An Alternate Future
by Dis Lexic
Summary: How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space. Alternate First Contact. AU
1. History of Earth

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **Alright, this is my first attempt at an alternate first contact story. Its not really a crossover, although it will have elements of it. I should warn you fine readers that this story is moving away from science and more into fantasy with some of the concepts, at least to begin with. This first chapter is meant to set the scean and provide an insight into the alternate earth and its inhabitants. Enjoy!**

History of Earth

Our story begins on the planet Earth. Although it looks very similar to the one that we know, that is only on the surface for you see, this is an alternate world. This version of Earth is inhabited by beings usually only found in fantasy novels, from the elves of the woods to the dwarves beneath the mountains and magic was commonplace. What is it that caused such a radical split from the world we know? The answer is external.

A being of immense power, wisdom and age came to a newly formed Earth and, for reasons unknown, began to shape the planet according to its desires. The being, known as Deus, took the young earth and began to shape it, transforming the still red hot ball of rock into a diverse paradise, with tundra, deserts, forests, plains, mountains and great oceans. Once he was happy with how the world looked, Deus turned his attention to populating the planet. First, he created the animals, big, small, winged, furred and scaled, before moving on to the intelligent races, Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, Beastkin, Humans, Goblins, Orcs and all of the other races you'd expect from a decent fantasy world. Then, he left, leaving behind the following words:

"My children, those to whom I gave life and form, I have done all I can for you. Now it is up to you to grow and find your place in the world. One day, you two shall walk among the stars and it is my hope that you shall right the wrongs my Kin have committed with their creations."

* * *

The next few millennia was filled with conflict like one would expect from a fantasy story, with Dark Lords, heroes, prophecies and more wars than you can shake a stick at, but at the end of it all three races had clawed their way to the top of the food chain, becoming the dominant superpowers in the world and bringing an uneasy peace to the world. The three superpowers were the Elven Republic in the north, the Kingdom of Humanity in the west and the Beastkin Empire in the east.

The Elves favored diplomacy to war and conflict and their republic was a center of culture, beauty and magic. Powerful, elegant, long lived and wise, the elves lead through wisdom and democracy, headed by a counsel of the oldest and wisest amongst their kind. However, their long lifespans have resulted in them looking down on the shorter lived races as children and a certain amount of stagnation within the Republic due to a case of racial Prosophobia.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Kingdom of Humanity. Humans tend to avoid conflict altogether, preferring to focus their efforts on scientific advancement. The race is short lived and is among the weakest of the Races that inhabit Earth, with little to no magical talents, however they more than make up for it with their intelligence, cunning and ingenuity. When forced into war, they roll out their technologically advanced war machines. The humans put a lot of emphasis on chivalry and honour and are ruled by a constitutional monarchy.

Due to the Beastkins more instinctual nature, they were the last to band together into a superpower, however that does not make them any weaker than their counterparts. Originally split into hundreds of clans and tribes wandering the vast content that makes up their home, the Beastkin are a physically strong race with highly advanced senses and a natural immunity to magic. For many years they were locked into a constant cycle of civil war and uneasy peace, before one clan rose above the others and began to conquer the others, bringing them under one banner and ushering in a new age for the Beastkin. Now they have a feudal system, with large areas of land ruled over by the nobility, all swearing allegiance to the Emperor. Due to their past and their natural gifts, the Beastkin make incredible warriors, while still having a rich culture. Their homeland is also extremely rich in resources that were highly sort after by the Empire and Republic.

* * *

For centuries the three nations lived together in an uneasy peace, with the occasional squabble over land or resources breaking out, that is until a great threat emerged. To this day no one is sure exactly where it came from, but the entity known simply as the Leviathan emerged from the depths of the oceans and began attempting to take control of the planet. Its first conquest was over the Orcs, transforming the formerly peaceful race of farmers into a horde of bloodthirsty killers that swept over the Kingdom of Humanity, claiming many lives and forcing the army's back, despite their technological advantage held by the Kingdom. At first the other Lands simply watched, intending to step in at the last minute and claim Humanity's land and technology for themselves, only for them to come under attack as the Leviathan turned its attention on the lesser races in their lands as well. It mainly focused on those races that were physically strong but mentally weak, races like the Trolls, giants and Ogres, creating large armies of powerful and tough soldiers that followed the creatures orders without question. The Three Kingdoms found themselves on the retreat, made even worse as several of their own revealed themselves to be under the creature's control and stabbed their allies in the back.

At first the Big Three focused on looking after their own, but it quickly became clear that they would soon be completely overwhelmed if they continued along those lines and so the leaders met and came to an agreement, forging an alliance and putting out feelers to the races that were hidden away in the shadows of the world. Suddenly, the battlefields around the world changed completely. Beastskin warriors fought alongside Human Knights and Elven battlemages, pushing back the encroaching hordes as the other powerful races joined the fray. The skys were filled with Dragons and Flugel, raining fiery death down from on high as the earth opened and allowed the Dwarven legions to march from the depths of the earth, bringing with them their powerful Golems and earthen magic. The Goblins cackled as they unleashed their powerful explosives and ramshackle machines of war on their foes, decimating them. Even the Elementals joined the fray, striding from the depths of their forests, lakes and mountains and unleashing the power of nature itself on the Leviathans forces.

In the space of a year, the now united people of Earth had decimated the Indoctrinated armies and, with a spell created from the combined efforts of some of the greatest scholars from all races, forced their true enemy to show himself. It appeared as a gigantic squid like being with heavy armoured plating and an attitude worse than even the most condescending of the Elves. When summoned, it attempted to use its witchcraft on those before it, only to find itself unable to control the ancient and powerful beings that had been charged with its summoning. With the monster revealed and trapped, the newly formed council quickly decided its fate, to be destroyed utterly with Dragonfire, one of the most destructive substances in the world.

* * *

With the war over, many of the races returned to their homes, but the Big Three remained. They determined that they were stronger as a whole as opposed to apart and so forged a true alliance that would last until the end of time, signed with blood and magic making it truly binding. They formed a council to deal with issues that would affect all while each of the three remained their own autonomous states for the most part. Over time, the other races sent representatives until almost all of the races were represented on the newly formed Senate, with the exceptions of the Dragons, who were mostly solitary beings, the Orcs, who were still largely affected by the Leviathans meddling and extremely violent, the Giants, Ogres and Trolls who were largely extinct thanks to the war and the Elementals who couldn't care less about what was happening outside of their homes so long as the planet was safe.

As time past, the technology and Technomancy began to advance rapidly, leading to an Industrial revolution and the advancement of science. Due to the fact that many of the races were strongly connected to nature, environmental problems caused by the advancements were quickly found and fixed, although they were few in number due to the fact most machines used magic as a power source.

Eventually, the races of Earth turned their attention to the stars, just as their creator had foretold and, with the help of the various races contributions, took their first steps into the great unknown by landing on the moon. With the help of magic and the few Elementals, the moon was soon Terraformed and colonized. With the first steps taken into the Great Black, the People of Earth turned their gaze outwards and took their first steps into the future.

 **And I'm going to leave this chapter here. I always intended this to be short and just an introduction to this alternate Earth. However, I also need to introduce the Races of Earth, so heres the Codex entry.**

Codex: United People of Earth

Homeworld: Earth

The Planet Earth is a garden world, mostly covered in water with three large landmasses where most of the inhabitants live. It also has some unusual constructs, including floating trees and rocks that traverse the lands and serve as homes for some of the Races that call the planet home. The three continents are:

Elvengard in the north, home of the Elves. It is a content covered in a large amount of forests and mountains that serve as a home for the vereous subspices. This land is home to Yggdrasil, the world tree which acts as an anchor to the largest of the floating land masses, Alfheim.

The land to the east is called Garoh and is home to the Beastkin. It is the largest content on the planet and is also the most diverse, with environments from Tundra to Deserts, providing a home for the many clans of Beastkin that call it home. The land is badly scarred from past battles from before the unification under the Lion Clan and is extremely rich in valuable resources that both the Elves and the Humans need, leading to an extremely rich nation. Due to the feudal nature of Beastkin society battles and skirmishes between Lords occasionally break out, but are quickly quelled if they become too large.

The land to the west is called Lordaeron and is home to the Kingdom of Humanity. Once home to numerous squabbling nations, the land is now united under the House of Pendragon and is considered to be the center of scientific advancement. Its cities are vast and gleaming and bursting at the seems with advanced technology. Even the Elves accept that the humans are incredible inventors and it is considered to be a great honour to study at one of the many universities that dot the land.

All three lands are inhabited by more than just the Big Three races, but they still accept the leading races as the rulers.

Government

Ever since the Leviathan Wars, the UPE have been mostly united. While the Three Nations still act as autonomous states with their own ruling parties and the other races that self govern also maintain their own leaders, the issues of the Earth and colonies that affect the People as a whole are discussed and dealt with in the Senate, who make their home on the island of Asgard that sits in the center of the three continents. The Senate is made up of representatives from most races, with the exceptions of the Dragons, Elementals and the Orks. The Senate is lead by the Council, made up of the representatives of the Beastkin, Humans and Elves who see to it that the decisions made are carried out and hold the authority to veto any decisions that will have a negative impact on the People as a whole. The Senate also acts as a Judicial body for high profile or serious crimes, mostly war criminals or political criminals as the minor crimes are dealt with internally.

Corruption in the Senate is dealt with swiftly as it is almost impossible to lie to a Beastkin or an Elf and humans are known to be extremely attentive, meaning that they can pick up on corruption very quickly. Those found guilty of corruption are tried, dishonorably discharged and have a black mark on them forever as all the races hold honesty and honour in extremely high regard.

Races

There are many races that call Earth home, all with their own quirks, strengths, histories and culture.

Elves

Native to Elvengard, the Elves are a varied race with a large number of subspecies that live in various areas of the content, although they are not as varied as the Beastkin. All Elves, regardless of species, share a few traits, most notably their magical strength, grace, pointed ears and long lifespan. The average lifespan of an Elf is about 7000 years, beaten only by the Dragons and Flugel. Elves, especially the elder ones, look down on the younger races as children, although they do respect them for their strengths. The Elves are ruled by a council made up of the eldest and wisest of their kind and have a caste system, although the differentiation between the castes is fairly small. At one time the Elves practiced slavery, but that has long since vanished.

Subspecies:

Wood Elf: The most common of the Elven people, these are the elves that make the forests their home. Hunters and gatherers, they are fairly short of stature and often dress in forest colours. Their skin is dark and their hair comes in forest shades. They make for excellent scouts and rangers and have the ability to tame almost any animal.

Dark Elf: These Elves make their homes in the cave systems that snake under the entirety of the planet alongside the Dwarves. They don't often emerge from the depths of the earth as the light hurts their eyes and skin. They are powerful sorcerers and make for incredible assassins. They have black skin, white hair and glowing, red eyes that can see in the infrared spectrum.

Fairy: Also known as the Flying Elves, these Elves make the floating island of Alfheim their home and are often considered to be a separate race altogether. They are split up into nine different kinds that are ruled over by Oberon and are often found fighting amongst themselves. Not much is known about them as they rarely leave their home. **(AN If you want to know more than look up the races from ALO)**

Snow Elf: Making their homes in the mountains, these Elves are extremely spiritual . Often priests or philosophers, these Elves specialize in Holy and Ice magics. They have pale skin, blue eyes and white hair.

High Elf: Technically not a subspecies, these are the Elves that have reached the last 1500 years of life. Revered and respected, these Elves are among the most powerful of their kind. Able to wield the pure essence of Magic, it is said that they can see the future and listen to the song of the cosmos. All High Elves are surrounded by a faint glow and give off a calming aura that can calm a Beastkin in a Bloodrage. They make excellent diplomats and can talk circles around almost any other diplomat with ease.

Beastkin

The beastal race of the East, the Beastkin clans are many, covering virtually every single animal species in existence, with the exception of insects and primates. Every one of them is strong, tough and has extremely acute senses, although some clans have more talent in one than the other. They mostly appear human, but with animal ears, tails, fangs and claws, trates that many humans find adorable, especially in children and females (Thats both races). Originally made up of many roving and warring clans, the Beastkin were united under the banner of the Lion Clan and use a feudal system. While unable to use magic in the same way as the Elves, the Beastkin instead use it instinctively to strengthen themselves and are capable of using magic to enhance their senses to the point of being able to perceive time extremely slowly to the point of being able to dodge bullets. This ability comes with a price however and can only be used in short bursts to avoid permanent damage to the body.

Some Beastkin also suffer from a condition called Bloodrage where they enter a berserker state when enraged. While in this state, their strength and speed is drastically increased, but they go completely out of control. Symptoms include red staining of fur and hair, black markings appearing on the skin, enlarging of teeth and claws and a lot of property damage. The only ways to stop an enraged Beastkin is to let the Bloodrage run its course, which can be fatal for the Beastkin as their body tears itself apart, have a close loved one call them out or get an High Elf to calm them with their aura. Many Beastkin who suffer from this affliction carry recordings of their mates or children in order to bring them out of the rage.

Beastkin can also possess an ability similar to the Bloodrage in its affects only without the loss of control. The ability is called Blood Devastation and has similar affects to the Bloodrage, only the Beastkin remains in control. Due to the damage and risk posed by this ability, it is usually saved as a last resort or used in small bursts.

Both of the above are usually found in predatory or territorial Beastkin, with Blood Devastation being most common in Canine and Feline types. The average lifespan of a Beastkin is around 200 years.

Human

By far the most curious race on the planet, Humanity has come a long way from their time as a race of warring countries. They were the first to unite under a single flag and are the most technologically advanced of the Races of Earth. Virtually all technological advancements come out of Humans. While not capable of using magic like the Elves, Humans are able to enchant items and cast spells, although Battlemages are rare due to the amount of time it takes to cast a spell for them. Most of their magical powers come from their Technomancy or enchanted weapons. They also developed the practice of Alchemy, the art of transmuting one thing into another which has many practical applications. As a rule, Humans are a carefree race, with a burning curiosity that has landed them in trouble more than a few times, but their unending tenacity and perseverance has always pulled them back out. Although considered immature and annoying by the Elves and Beastkin respectively, the other Races still have a large amount of respect for Humanity and their unending optimism. The average lifespan of a human is about 120 years

Dragon

These are considered to be one of the oldest and most dangerous race on Earth. Massive, fire breathing lizards that are made up of pure primordial energy given form and sentence, these beasts are feared and respected in equal measure. Largely solitary beasts, they reside in mountain ranges, deep, ancient forests or even below the seas. Extreme caution is recommended when approaching a Dragon as you never know whether one is hungry and you are crunchy and good with ketchup. The oldest of the Dragons are known to be able to grow to the size of mountains and even fly through the vacuum of space.

Flugel

Also known as Angels, these are the only race on Earth that are feared and respected as much as the Dragons. Essentially immortal, with huge magical reserves and the ability to rain down fire and brimstone, it is a very good thing that they are more interesting in gaining and preserving knowledge than fighting. They are usually found in library's all over the world and are employed as librarians due to their diligence and love of knowledge. It also prevents to many late fines as no one wants to annoy a Flugel. That said, should their cache of knowledge damaged or, god forbid, destroyed, they won't stop until the perpetrator has been reduced to ashes.

Goblins

Small, mad, annoying and pyromaniacs to the last, the Goblins make their home in the Human lands, although they are usually kept well away from the city's. They are every bit as intelligent, inventive and ingenious as the Humans. Just one problem. Everything they build inevitably explodes. Its a good thing that these little critters are as hard to kill as cockroaches or they would have blasted themselves into oblivion centuries ago.

Dwarves

Short, stocky humanoids that live below the earth, mining jewels, gold and metals with little regard for the surface world, only coming up to trade with the surface dwellers. They possess powerful earth magics, but they are largely focused on finding and mining resources. They have the ability to create animate Golems with their magic, but the methods of creation are a closely guarded secret. They greatly revere their ancestors and sometimes name exceptional Dwarves Paragons, living Ancestors. They have an extremely rigid caste system, with the Casteless being at the lowest rung in the hierarchy, to the point of having next to no rights and being slaves in everything but name. They have the distinction of being the only race with a complete immunity to external magic, as well as being a favorite snack for Dragons.

Orcs

Originally a race of farmers that lived on the plains of Lordaeron, their minds were twisted by the Leviathan, transforming them into a race of bloodthirst monsters that swept over the land in a massive hoard and nearly succeeded in taking the capital of Camelot. Now they are splintered into roving bands that attack anything they find. They are one of the few races with no magic in them whatsoever, but their brute strength and numbers still make them a significant threat.

Machina

A synthetic race built by humans as a means of cheap labour, the Machina evolved far more quickly than the humans were expecting, becoming true AIs within 50 years of being first built. However, instead of panicking, the Humans rejoiced and accepted their children into their lives. Originally designed as typical robots by Dr Light, they have long since evolved and been given a far more human appearance, although evidence of their cybernetic nature is still obvious in places. The Machina despise conflict, even more than their creators and strongly object to any form of conflict. That said, they are far from helpless. They are able to analyse and replicate any magical attack sent at them within seconds and many have a large number of armaments hidden inside their shells for self defence. They can also network with other Machina in the area, creating a hivemind and increasing their processing speed exponentially. While most Machina are humanoid, some have other bodies they can use, including the ships used by the UPE, although they usually do have a humanoid body as well.

Elementals

The living embodiment of nature, Elementals are found all over the world. Largely solitary, the Elementals rarely leave their homes, although many will aid travelers who stumble across them, so long as they don't harm the natural areas they protect. While Elementals are very dangerous if provoked, it is extremely rare for it to happen as all of the Race of Earth have a strong respect for nature. Usually the only ones to run afoul with an Elemental are the Orcs who simply destroy without thought.

As a side note, all species with magic flowing through them have a strong resistance to Indoctrination, which is why the Leviathan attacked rather than just Indoctrinated everyone. However, resistance does not mean immunity and they can be affected from prolonged exposure, although the Flugel and Dragons are fully immune.

 **And thats it, all of the races that inhabit the Earth. I am well aware that this version of Earth is OP and that was the idea. I know their OP and that is exactly what I intended. I want to do a story where the Council has no chance whatsoever. I took a few ideas from other fandoms, like the country names from WoW, Golden Sun and No Game No Life and more than a few of the races are based on the ones from No Game No Life as well. The Dwarves are taken from Dragon Age and, as mentioned, the Fairies are taken directly from SAO.**

 **Now, I'm awful at coming up with ships so I'm willing to accept suggestions for designs. Just remember that they won't be using Eezo because Magic plus Eezo equals BOOM! I'm also welcoming suggestions for what races I should make the ME characters. Please leave me a review!**


	2. Chapter 1

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **And this is the first real chapter of this story, starting from where the Turians discover the Humans studying the Relay. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

"Alright, so tell me what we have here?" asked Captain Arthur Fenox, captain of the Dreadnought, the _Nostromo_ and commander of the flotilla currently floating around the object one of the scout ships had found on the outer edges of the Shanix system.

He was a middle aged human with close cropped, steel gray hair, sharp grey eyes and a large number of medals on his chest.

The head scientist of the research team, an elderly human with frizzy white hair and a slightly manic gleam in his eye glanced down at the datapad in his hand before answering the question.

"The object appears to be some kind of transportation device, meant to send objects across the galaxy instantly," said the man, "We are unsure of exactly what material makes up the device, but we do know that it's every bit as indestructible as Adamantium."

"Can we use it?" asked the Captain.

The scientist shook his head.

"No, the element that allows for the creation of a Mass free corridor to travel reacts violently when exposed to magic. Attempting to use it with our Magica Drives would result in both the ship and the Gate being destroyed in the backlash. In addition, the Gate is inferior to our own Warp Drives as it requires a Gate to be at the other end to work."

"Alright, thank you for your report Dr. Einstein," said the Captain, "Carry on."

The scientist nodded and swiftly left the captain's office, heading back to his lab to continue his analysis. Arthur leant back in his seat, fingers steepled as he gazed up at the ceiling.

"Thinking deep thoughts?" asked a voice from his terminal.

"I'm just wondering what to make of this thing," said the Captain, "Whoever built this thing was clearly advanced and could very well be a threat."

"They also could not," pointed out the voice, "There is nothing to be gained in worrying. Let the future reveal itself as it may."

The captain smiled.

"I guess you're right Annie," he said, sitting back up, "Since you're here, can I get a status report."

"Of course captain," said the ships Machina, "All systems green, although the crew are starting to get a little antsy from all this standing around."

"Well, it can't be helped," said Fenox, "Although I have to say that this is getting a little boring. Makes me wish that something would happen."

As if the Captain had said the magic words, a red light on his terminal began to flash as an alarm suddenly sounded through the ship.

"Oh Deus damn it," groaned Fenox, slamming his head into his desk, "I really should have known better than to say that!"

He got to his feet and hurried from his office, heading for the bridge, weaving through the controlled chaos of the halls with the ease of long practice as the crew scrambled to their stations.

"Whats going on?" demanded the captain as he entered the bridge and moved to his command chair.

"Sir, the Gate has activated," said the Beastkin on scanners, his eyes darting around his screen as his ears twitched.

"Was it one of ours?" asked Fenox.

"Negative, none of our ships are any where near that thing," said the Beastkin.

"Alright, call the research ships back behind us and send a message to High Command and Shanix garrison. I want both ready in case whatever comes through is hostile."

"Yes sir," said the Ensign on communications, "Message sent."

"Annie, patch me through to the fleet."

"Yes sir," said the Machina from her control pit where her humanoid body was hooked directly into the ships systems, "Channel open."

"Alright everyone, this is Captain Fenox speaking," said the captain, "Your orders are to hold your position and bring all shields to maximum. Keep your weapons charged, but your fingers of the triggers unless they prove hostile. Remember, we are the only line of defence Shanix has, if we fall then there won't be any help coming for 12 hours."

The captain shut down the connection and sat back in his chair with a sigh.

"And now we wait."

* * *

Other side of Relay 314, 57th Turian Patrol Fleet

Captain Akits Learchus of the _Solar Talon_ was board. The 57th Patrol Fleet had been doing their job and patrolling their assigned sector of space for the past two months and it was beginning to grate. There was absolutely nothing out here other than a lot of floating rocks. Akits was a good Turian and never complained about his orders, no matter how bad they may be, but Spirits above he was board.

"Oh Spirits, I'd do anything for something interesting to happen!" he muttered.

Be careful what you wish for. At that moment, the Turian assigned to the sensors let out a yelp of shock.

"Sir, the primary relay in this system has gone active!" he shouted.

Instantly, the Captain was back on alert.

"Send a message to Admiral Orthon and bring the fleet to a stop," he ordered, "We don't know what's on the other side, so we need to wait for reinforcements."

"Yes sir!"

It didn't take long for the rest of the Patrol Fleet to arrive, including the flagship and Dreadnought, the _Resolute Spirit_. Shortly after the last of the ships arrived, Admiral Orthon opened communications to the _Talon_

"Whats the situation Captain?" asked the Admiral, not mincing words.

"Sir, the Relay activated approximately 15 minutes ago, apparently from the other side," said Akits, "Since then there has been no activity."

"Very good, all ships form up and follow me through the Relay," said the Admiral, "We need to discover what it was that activated the Relay."

"Sir!"

The ships of the patrol fleet swiftly formed up into the standard, battle ready set up, with the capital ships at the back, cruisers in front and frigate wolf packs to pick off anyone foolish enough to get to close. Once the fleet was in position, they moved forwards and made the jump. As soon as they exited the Relay, they knew they weren't dealing with any pirates who had decided to find a hidden base as they saw the fleet of unknown ships arrayed before them. There were about 30 of them in all, split into two groups. The group at the back was clearly civilian of some kind as they milled around with little semblance of order, while the front group were in clearly defencive positions and seemed to have a large number of armaments. The biggest of the ships was a kilometer long Dreadnought shaped vaguely like a dagger, with an upturned prow that had a pair of large gaps on either side of the sharp nose that were clearly guns of some kind, as well as a tower at the far end of the ship that was likely the bridge. All of the ships were made of a strange, pure white metal that gleamed brightly. The Civilian ships were much more blocky than their military counterparts and had what appeared to be claws attached to the sides.

"Spirits," whispered Akits as he stared at the arrayed ships, wide eyed.

Over on the _Resolute,_ Admiral Orthon was more interested in the information the scanners had revealed. According to the scans, none of the arrayed ships had any trace of Element Zero in them whatsoever. That meant that they had a race that had only just made it into space and this had to be their homeworld. That meant that, if they moved now, they could add a new client race to the Hierarchy. The Admiral smiled and gave the order that would change the course of history.

* * *

The _Nostromo_

"Deus," whispered Fenox as the Alien ships appeared from the Gate, "Real alien vessels…"

The topic of life on other planets was something that had long been debated among the intellectuals of Earth. Some said there had to be, others said no way. The discovery of the Gate upon exploring the Shanix system had served to spark some really heated debates among the scientific community as to whether or not this was proof, with some die hard skeptics dismissing it as a hoax. This however was irrefutable proof that the UPE were not alone in the Universe.

"Get me a scan of those ships," ordered the Captain, shaking of his shock.

"Way ahead of you Captain," said Annie, her eyes whizzing around in their sockets as she analysed the data coming in from the scanners, "According to the scans, the ships use a the same element as is in the Gate in order to achieve FTL. They have barrears of some kind, although without more data I can't determine how effective they are. Weapons are almost all Kinetic in nature, except for some lasers that seem to be limited to defencive measures."

"Alright, communications prep the First Contact Package for…" began the Captain, only to be interrupted by a shout from scanners.

"Sir, their firing!"

"WHAT!"

A moment later, the ship shook as the shields were struck by Tungsten slugs.

"Status report!"

"Shields down by 25%!" called Annie, "The _Millennium Falcon_ and the _Claws of Aslan_ are reporting hull breaches."

"Damn, all ships return fire!" shouted the Captain, "Tell the research teams to warp to Crown Station and advise General Williams to get his men ready!"

"Yessir!"

The Captain's orders were quickly relayed and the civilian ships did an about turn and began to fly away from the battle at high speed, before they were infused in a bright glow and vanished. As they did, huge magic circles appeared all across the line as the Cruisers and Frigates activated their magic weapons. Next moment, massive shards of ice, lightning bolts and arcane energy leaped from the UPE ships and struck the Turian ships. The ice chunks were stopped by the ships Kinetic barriers, but the energy passed straight through and eviscerated the Frigates and more than a few cruisers. A few Arcane Bolts found their way into the Eezo drive cores and the two opposing elements reacted like Matter and Antimatter, consuming more than a few ships and their nabours in a huge flash of multicoloured light. Those ships hit by the lightning attacks found themselves completely helpless as all of their systems were knocked out completely, not that they had time to worry as they were torn apart by Arcane Bolts a second later. Within seconds, the formerly proud fleet of nearly 70 warships had been sliced in half and those that remained were battered and bruised.

* * *

Turian Fleet, the _Solar Talon_

As soon as the civilian ships had disappeared, Akits had known they were in trouble. He was proven right a second later as the unknown ships returned fire with lightning, energy bolts and what appeared to be massive shards of ice. The _Talon_ was towards the back of the formation, so it was spared being completely destroyed, however, one of the ships nearby had been struck by an energy bolt and went supernova, knocking out virtually every system they had. The crew were currently rushing around, trying to restore system functionality, but Akits knew it was pointless. They were sitting ducks and their was no way that the crew would be able to get the ship moving again in time to dodge the next volley. Just then, the communications line, one of the few things that hadn't been knocked out, activated and a shaken looking Admiral Orthon appeared.

"Captain Akits, status report," he said in a shaky voice, "Can your ship move?"

"Negative sir, one of the blasts knocked out virtually all our systems," said the Captain, keeping his voice level despite his desire to shout at the Admiral for getting them into this mess.

"I was afraid of that," said Orthon, "Alright, I have ordered the _Fire of Palaven_ to head back through the Relay to warn the Council about this new race. All still operable ships are ordered to cover its retreat."

Akits looked over at the Turian manning the weapons and received a head shake.

"Sorry sir, but our weapon systems are down," said Akits, "We won't be able to help you."

"I see," said the Admiral, "I must say that its been an honour serving with you Captain."

With that, the connection was cut and the _Resolute Spirit_ began to move.

* * *

UPE fleet, the _Nostromo_

"Hold fire," said Fenox, "We need some alive to interrogate."

"Yes sir," said Annie as the order was relayed and the magic guns went silent.

"Sir, one of the undamaged ships is making a break for the Gate!" said Sensors, "Should we persue?"

Fenox looked at the screen and saw that the ship in question was already out of range and nearing the Relay.

"Negative, hes too far out of range," he said, "Ready the boarding parties."

"Sir, the largest ships moving!" said Sensors, "Its coming this way."

"Seems like they plan to ram us," said Annie, "Your orders?"

"Open fire," said the Captain, "Try to disable that thing. We need prisoners and that is likely the flagship!"

"Yes sir," said Annie as the guns powered up again and opened fire with a barrage of energy bolts that hit the _Spirit_ with a fury.

Unfortunately, the ship was coming at the UPE fleet at incredible speed and the barrage wasn't even slowing it down.

"This doesn't seem to be working," said Annie.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," muttered the captain before raising his voice, "No choice then, the other disabled ships will have to do. Fire the Vanguard Cannon."

A rather demonic grin crossed Annie's face at that order as she began to punch in the commands to fire the _Nostromo's_ main gun.

"Yes sir!" she said gleefully as the massive magical generators in the depths of the ship began to power on.

The Vanguard Cannon was one of the most powerful weapons in the UPE's arsenal, a blast of pure magical energy with enough power to vaporize an entire city. The only weapon more powerful was the Scepter class ships of which they had ten in the entire fleet. Just one had enough power to destroy a small moon and they were only deployed as a last resort.

The cannon began to charge as the charging Alien Dreadnaught began to close, a faint light appearing in the two holes on either side of the _Nostromo's_ prow as the deadly weapon charged. Then, a huge, pure white beam of energy fired from the barrels, streaking across space to impact the _Spirit._ The beam passed straght through the Dreadnaught and, for a moment, it seemed like nothing had happened, before the _Spirit_ split in half down the middle and exploded.

* * *

The _Talon_

Akits' mandibles dropped open in shock as he witnessed the spectacular end of the _Spirit._ Whatever that weapon was, it was beyond powerful. If he wasnt convinced that war with this race was a bad idea, he most definitely was now. Just then, Sensors alerted him that the alien ships had launched shuttles and they were heading to the few ships in the fleet that still had some form of power. Akits knew exactly what they were, boarding parties. The Captain tapped his chin, trying to decide what to do. Right now they were sitting ducks, but if Engineering could get the engines back online they could make a break for the Relay. The _Fire of Palaven_ had already escaped, but the more data the Council had on these aliens the better. However, he wasn't about to risk the lives of his crew if their was no chance of success.

"Engineering, how close are you to having the Engines online?" asked the Captain.

"Almost there sir," said the Chef, "We just need a bit more time and we can make a break for it."

"Alright then, keep up the good work," said Akits, before opening a ship wide com, "Alright people, we're about to be boarded by the Aliens, so I want all security teams ready to go on the double! Engineering has nearly finished the repairs, so make sure that those damned aliens don't take the ship!"

Orders given, Akits shut down the com and crossed his talons.

* * *

 _Talon,_ Engineering deck

Petty Officer Severus made his way through the corridors of the _Talon,_ keeping his eyes peeled and his gun at the ready. Behind him was a pair of rookies, looking around nervously as if expecting something to jump out of the vents and attack them. While nuverus, the rookies were still moving carefully and doing their jobs with typical Turian discipline, something that made Severus proud every time he saw it. Just then, the sound of something clattering across the floor echoed down the corridor, making all three Turians stiffen and aim their guns in the direction of the sound. They edged their way down the corridor until they reached the door of the Drive Room. Severus hesitated for a moment, before opening the door and stepping through. What he saw made him stop in horror. The entire engineering crew were dead, slumped over consoles or laying on the floor in puddles of blood. It was apparent that whatever had done this was quick as there wasn't a single sign of a struggle.

"What could have done this?" whispered one of the rookies as Severus stepped up to one of the bodys and turned it over.

The cause of death was quite apparent from the set of slash marks across his chest, slicing through his armour with ease, and the fact that his neck was broken.

"These look like claw marks," muttered Severus, "Grixus, report this to the bridge."

"Yes sir," said the rookie, bringing up his Omnitool.

"Laelia, help me examine the bodys," continued Severus, "It might give us some clue as to what we're dealing with."

The female nodded and helped her commanding officer gather the corpses and examine the wounds. While neither of them were docters, the cause of death was quite apparent. Snapped necks, slit throats and fist sized holes through the heart. All of the injuries looked like they had been done with claws.

Suddenly, a clanging sound drew the attention of the team to the shadows of the room, making them spin towards it and bring up their weapons. Severus could feel the adrenalin pumping through him as he scanned the shadows, looking for any form of movement.

"We know you're there," called Severus, "Come out with your hands behind your head or we will open fire."

For a moment there was silence, before the sound of footsteps reached the teams ears, making them shift their grips on their guns as the source of the sounds stepped into the light.

At first Severus thought that it was covered with a shiny, black carapace, before he realized that it was a suit of jet black armour. It was humanoid and slightly shorter than the average Turien. The armour completely covered the creature, with the only part of its body being visible was the tips of its five clawed fingers and the long, red, fluffy tail that waved behind it. Its armour was completely black, so dark that it seemed to absorb the light, likely designed for stealth. Its helmet had an odd design, with two, horn like extensions at the top and had a polarized visor.

"Don't move" ordered Severus, "If you do, we won't hesitate to shoot you."

While the alien couldn't understand Severus, the meaning of the words was clear as all three Turians were aiming their guns squarely at its head. The alien cocked its head on one side and Severus got the distinct impression that it was smirking, before it vanished. Severus blinked in confusion, before the alien reappeared, crouching three inches in front of him with its foot already in motion. The kick hit with the force of a Krogens charge, sending the Petty Officer flying across the room with multiple broken ribs before any of the Turians could react. The Alien didn't stop there though as its hands landed on the floor and it spun, legs spread, hitting both rookies in the side of the head and sending them flying as well. Severus quickly shook of the impact and brought up his gun, opening fire at the armoured invader. The Alien bent at the waist, avoiding the bullets with ease, before sprinting towards Severus fast enough to leave after images, dodging every single bullet sent its way with the grace of an Asari dancer, before its clawed hand lashed out, slicing Severus' gun into four pieces. Severus stared at the remains of his weapon for a moment, before a fist impacted his temple, sending him into unconsciousness.

* * *

 _Nostromo_

"All boarding parties reporting successful missions," said Annie.

"Excellent," said the Captain, "Order all shuttles back to the _Nostromo_ and have the prisoners placed in the Brig. Send a report home and have them send some egg heads, as well as renforcements."

"Yes sir."

Fenox sighed and looked at the floating field of wreckage that had once been the enemy's fleet.

"Deus, I hope this doesn't devolve into war," he muttered.

 **And thats where I'm going to end it. As you can see, the People of Earth are pretty formidable and can make short work of a Turian patrol fleet. Next time, the fall out and negotiations! Please leave me a review.**


	3. Chapter 2

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **I don't really think I have anything to say here, so lets get a move on. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

The Council Chambers on the Citadel were as grand as they were ostentatious. Huge, cavernous and with real trees and plantlife from all over Citadel space bordering the massive staircase that stretched from the public entrance to the Council's dius, the leaders of the Galaxy sure did know how to show that they were in charge. All of this was ignored as a frazzled looking Turian came crashing through the doors and sprinting up the steps.

"Councilor Sparatus!" he shouted as he reached the top of the steps, out of breath and disheveled.

The Councilor in question turned from his discussion with his colleagues to glare at the hapless messinger.

"Yes?" he growled, not in the least bit pleased at being interrupted.

The messinger dithered for a moment, before leaning forwards to whisper in Sparatus' ear.

"WHAT?!"

Sparatus' shout drew the attention of the other two Counselors as the two Turians began to whisper frantically. Tevos and Valern glanced at each other worriedly as the messenger sprinted for the door and their Turien counterpart visibly pulled himself together. It was rare to see Sparatus so shaken and it worried both the Asari and the Salarian Councilors.

"I'm afraid that something has come up that demands my immediate attention," said Sparatus, moving towards the Counselors entrance as he spoke, "If you'll excuse me."

"Does this have anything to do with one of your patrol vessels coming back full of holes?" asked Valern, making Sparatus stop and turn to stare at the Salarian.

"How do you know about that?" asked the Turian.

"My dear Sparatus, surely you know by now that I know everything," said Valern with a smug grin.

"Spirits damned STG," muttered the irate Turian, before speaking up, "Yes, one of our patrols returned from Relay 314 and that ship was the only survivor. The captain and crew say that they only made it back due to another ships sacrifice."

"Goddess," whispered Tevos, covering her mouth, "What happened?"

"According to this, the patrol came across a previously inactive Mass Relay and decided to investigate," said Valern, reading off a datapad he pulled from...somewhere, "On the other side they found a previously unknown race and decided to greet them with gunfire rather than diplomacy. In response they destroyed the patrol fleet"

Sparatus scowled at the blatant security breaches in the Hierarchy, but decided not to argue with the Salarian right now.

"Exactly, now if you excuse me, I need to go and prepare my people," said Sparatus, once more heading for the door.

"Wait, you're not planning to go to war are you?" demanded Tevos, a scowl on her face.

"And why shouldn't I?" demanded Sparatus, rounding on the Asari, "They flaunted Council law and killed good Turians just doing their jobs!"

"A law they couldn't possibly have known about!" screeched Tevos, "From their point of view an alien race just opened fire on them for no reason! What did you think they were going to do, just sit there and take it?!"

"I must agree with Tevos here," said Valern, "According to the reports they use some form of directed energy weapon that could overload the ME core in ships, causing them to go supernova, as well as somehow having FTL without the use of Eezo. If war does erupt then we will be at a severe disadvantage."

"Fine, send an envoy," snapped Sparatus, his already bad mood only made worse by the apparent intelligence leaks in the Hierarchy, "But I'm still going to get my people ready for when the diplomats get butched!"

* * *

 _Nostromo,_ Holding cells

Captain Akits let out a sigh as he looked around his cell for the hundredth time. He had woken up in the room a couple of hours ago after something had come bursting into the bridge of the _Talon_ and knocked out everyone in the room before they even had time to shout in surprise. The room was small and bland, a perfect cube of white metal with a bed and a privy behind a curtain. One wall was made up of purple energy that was more than capable of burning his skin, as his right talon had found out the hard way. Through the energy wall, he could see a large number of similar cells stretching in both directions that seemed to hold the other prisoners the Aliens had taken, with guards stationed every few feet.

Akits found these Aliens fascinating. Many of them looked like Asari, only with varying skin colours and fur on their heads. There was also a lot of diversity as some had round ears, some had pointed and others had furry ears and a tail. The one immediately outside of his cell was one of the tailed ones and had pale skin and dark blue fur, with a pair of pointed ears and a long, fluffy tail that waved lazily as it leant against the wall with its gun beside her. It was clear that they weren't expecting any trouble, although Akits was sure that they were more than capable of doing some serious damage with the claws that tipped its fingers. While Akits wasn't a xenobiologist, the alien's body shape was similar to an Asari, leading him to believe that it was likely a female.

Suddenly, the guard stiffened as the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor and a group of aliens came into view. There were three of them, with two of them being covered in a full body suit of white and yellow armour that completely hid their features, while the leader was wearing a uniform of some kind. This alien didn't have the same body shape as the guard, leading Akits to believe that it was male, and had short, brown hair and strange looking eyes. They were black, but had glowing blue rings in them. The guard and the newcomer shared a few words, before one of the white clad guards deactivated the barrier and stepped into Akits' cell, holding out a pair of handcuffs. The Turian held out his hands and allowed the guard to bind his wrists, before he was lead from his cell and down the halls. Akits knew what was coming and had been anticipating it for some time. Interrogation.

* * *

 _Nostromo,_ interrogation rooms

Jack Harper stood on the other side of the two way mirror, looking into the interrogation room at the Alien captain they had taken prisoner as he waited for the Captain to arrive. His cybernetic eyes took in every miniscule movement of the alien's body as he finely tuned audio scenes captured every single tiny sound made by the prisoner while his computerized brain, currently networked with Annie and all the other Machina in the fleet to increase processing power, worked to translate them to set a baseline reading for the interrogation. Beastkin could determine if a person was lying by paying attention to the involuntary reactions of the body. Of course, it wasn't completely reliable and could be tricked, but it required effort and their was no reason for the Turian, as they now knew the Aliens called themselves, would suppress his body's reactions to lying. Of course for that to be possible they needed a baseline reading of their bodily functions at rest and that was exactly what Jack was doing.

Harper looked around as the door opened, revealing the captain of the Nostromo flanked by two armoured guards.

"Captain," said Harper, nodding in greeting.

"Illusive Man," said the Captain, returning the nod.

Harper was a member of the UPE's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as Cerberus, and as such, went by a code name while on duty. The organization was headed by a mysterious individual who went by BLANK and no one know exactly who that was, not even their gender or species.

"Have you established a baseline reading?" asked the captain.

Harper nodded as he sent the requested data to the armoured Beastkins personal terminal on her arm. The Beastkin took a moment to analyse the information and nodded, before taking her helmet off and revealing a pretty face, with fox ears, green eyes and red hair.

"Alright, lets get this over with," said the Captain, "Shepard, keep your ears fixed on our guest and tell me if he fibs. IM, I want you to do the same, just in case Shepard misses something."

Harper nodded and the group entered the room.

* * *

Akits looked up as a group entered the interrogation room. He had been left here around 5 minutes ago, cuffed to the chair and left alone, leaving him to stew in paranoia as his imagination kept throwing up horrible images of what they had planned for him. It was a relief when the door opened as it meant that the waiting was finally over and they could get this over with. Akits studied the three aliens as they entered. One of the aliens, clearly of a high rank if the large number of medals that covered his uniform was anything to go by, sat down in the chair opposite him while his companions took a parade rest behind him.

One of the three was the same male as had brought him to the room. The other guard was like the guard that had been stationed outside of his cell, only with red fur. The female fixed Akits with a yellow eyed gaze that made the Turian feel like he was being x rayed. Akits gulped and quickly moved his gaze back to the male sat across from him. He looked like he was in his later years and had short, grey fur and eyes.

The grey furred alien reached into his pocket and pulled something out, placing it in front of Akits, who immediately recognised it as his Omnitool that had been confiscated as soon as he was brought on board. The alien indicated to the tool and Akits quickly understood what he was saying, slipping the tool on.

"Can you understand me?" asked the alien and Akits was surprised to find that he could.

"I can," said the Turian.

"Good, the translation software works," said the strange eyed male.

"Wait, how is that possible?" asked Akits, "Its only been a few hours! No species can translate that quickly!"

"Never underestimate the power of the Machina," said the alien sat across from him, "Now, on to business. My name is Captain Arthur Fenox, the commander of the Shanix defence fleet. This is Illusive Man and Lieutenant Shepard."

He indicated to his companions.

"Captain Akits Learchus of the _Solar Talon,_ " said Akits.

"A pleasure to meet you Captain," said Fenox, "We were hoping that you could answer a few questions for us to clear up some misunderstandings. I warn you not to lie as both of these are capable of sniffing out lies with ease and I would hate to have to get a Mindwalker down here. Understand?"

Akits nodded.

"Good, first question, why did you attack us?"

Akits scowled.

"We were investigating a previously inactive Relay that was now Active," began the Turian, "It is against Citadel Law to activate Relays without knowing what's on the other side, so we had to investigate to see who was responsible. When we saw your ships, we assumed it was a new race, standard protocol indicates to send a first contact package and avoid conflict if possible, but Admiral Orthon decided to send you slugs instead."

"Sounds like you don't agree with him," noted the alien captain.

"I don't," said Akits, "As I said, standard protocol indicates making a peaceful first contact and enter diplomatic communication with the new race. Unfortunately, that was the farthest thing from Orthon's mind when he gave the order."

"What kind of fool thinks its OK to fire on innocents breaking a law they couldn't possible know of?" demanded Shepard, looking angry.

Before she could start shouting, Illusive Man reached over and scratched her behind one ear, making her shudder and relax.

"Thank you IM," said Fenox.

"I think my race as a whole is responsible for this," said Akits.

"Why do you say that?" asked IM.

"The Turians are the piecekeepers of Citadel Space," explained Akits, "Something that has lead to a rather unhealthy amount of pride and a feeling that we can do anything in the name of upholding the law. I can only apologize for what my race's pride has done here."

Akits bowed his head.

Fenox glanced at his companions.

"Hes genuine," said Shepard, with IM giving a confirming nod.

Fenox turned back to his alien counterpart with a sigh.

"Well, it sounds like this was all just a massive misunderstanding," he said, "And we certainly don't want war if we can help it, especially not with an entire galactic community. I guess we should try and get in contact with the Council and try and smooth all this out."

"I don't think that will be necessary Captain," said Akits.

"Whys that?"

"Because if I know the Salarans, they already know and the Council will have dispatched diplomats."

* * *

Earth, Senate building, Asgard

"So, what do we think?" asked the human counselor, Schneizel el Britannia, turning to his colleagues as they read through the report submitted by Captain Fenox.

Schneizel was an extremely handsome young human, with blond hair, light purple eyes and fair skin. He was wearing a long, royal purple tunic with black and gold accents, a white belt, white slacks and a white over-coat with a stiff, high collar. He was widely regarded as a heartthrob among the general public, helped along by his charisma. Like all humans, he was extremely intelligent and widely considered to be the best strategist outside of the military.

"Sounds like we're on the edge of war because of a bunch of trigger happy cops to me," grumbled the Beastkin representative, Ino Hatsuse.

Ino was an elderly wolf Beastkin, with long, white hair and beard and bushy eyebrows. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses and he wore a baggy kimono that hid the fact his body was a mass of bulging muscles.

"Indeed," said the Elven representative, Galadriel, "However, we should not rush into this blindly. If war can be avoided, it should be."

Galadriel was a High Elf, one of the eldest of her kind and was surrounded by a bright, silvery aura that drew people in. She was well liked and respected by all and her ethereal beauty had captured the hearts of a great many men and women in her 6800 years of life, but she had eyes only for her husband, a fellow High Elf named Celeborn. Her power was immense, but she rarely used it as she prefered to use diplomacy and wisdom over violence.

"So, what do you propose?" asked Schneizel.

"Send diplomats," said Galadriel, "If Captain Akits is correct, then the Citadel Council will have already dispatched diplomats of their own to try and put an end to this conflict before it can begin. We should do the same."

"Alright, but who do you suggest?" asked Ino.

"An elf would be the best choice," said Schneizel, "They have a lot of experience and we cannot afford their to be any mistakes here. Do you have any suggestions my lady?"

"As a matter of fact I do," said Galadriel, smiling, "She is rather young, but her talent and drive are second to none."

She tapped an icon on the console in front of her, pulling up a dossier on her recommended diplomat.

"Hmm, looks good to me," said Ino as Schneizel nodded in agreement.

"Alright, its decided," said Galadriel, "I shall inform her immediately."

"And lets all pray that this goes well," muttered Ino.

 **And I'm going to end this chapter here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Before I go, heres another Codex entry:**

Codex: United People of Earth: Organizations

Cerberus

Named for the Guardian of the Underworld, this Black Ops organization was formed by the Kingdom of Humanity in order to perform all the dirty tasks they did not want getting back to them. Similar to the STG, Cerberus can often get the information they need in seconds through their networks of spies. All of their agents are highly trained and well equipped for virtually any task, from assassination to espionage. All agents go by a codename in the field, although very few agents ever come out of the shadows. The organization is lead by the enigmatic BLANK, who has never been seen in public.

Known Agents (At least to the government)

Jack Harper, AKA, Illusive Man: A Machina build for the job, Harper is usually deployed for interrogation missions and is a walking polygraph. He can also hack into nearly anything and is more than capable of holding his own in a fight with the large number of weapons built into his frame.

Eva Core, AKA, EDI: Another Machina, Eva is a dedicated hacker. While not particularly useful in combat, Eva is still a formidable foe as she can hack into any electronic device in seconds and turn it against her foes.

Adam Jensen, AKA, Typhoon: Originally a human, Jensen is now a cyborg master of stealth and assassination after nearly being killed on a mission during his time in the military. Armed with elbow blades, energy weapons and hundreds of upgrades to improve his stealth, by the time you see this one its already too late.

Minato Kisaragi, AKA, Disc: Another cyborg, Disc is stationed in Iron Mountain and acts as a keeper and guardian of all data collected by Cerberus. Try to invade this installation at your own risk as Disc has filled the halls with deadly traps and even deadlier robots.

David Solid, AKA, Snake: A human operative that specializes in stealth operations, braking into enemy installations to steal intelligence, rescue prisoners or kill targets of interest.

David Webb, AKA, Bourne: Originally a skilled spy and assassin, Webb now works in the civilian sector, keeping an eye on the general public, just in case.

Miranda Lawson, AKA, Queen: Like Webb, Lawson works internally, tracking down criminals with the help of her charm and intelligence.

Jacqueline Nought, AKA, Jack: Sometimes stealth and subterfuge just aren't enough. Thats where Jack comes in. A skilled Alchemist, Jack uses her talents to destroy, threaten and kill anyone Cerberus wants to make an example of.

 **And their you have it, the purpose of Cerberus in this alternate world. And as an extra twist, Harper isn't the boss in this world. If you haven't noticed, I swiped a few characters from other fandoms for this. Anyway, please leave me a review!**


	4. Chapter 3

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **And now we get into the *shudder* politics as the Diplomats meet and talk things out. Before we begin, I received a question from a guest reviewer that was a very good one and I feel I should answer it. The question was, How does magic interact with biotic individuals? and this is my answer. Magic and Eezo only react if they come into direct contact, meaning that magic would need to be directly injected into the body of a Biotic in order for it to react with the Eezo. With regards to the Asari, they can Meld with an Earthling, but they can't mate as they would likely take the part of them that governs magic and that would react negatively with the Eezo in the fetus, resulting in a messy death for both mother and child. With that lovely image, lets begin.**

Chapter 3

"So Benezia, what do you think?" asked Tevos, looking at the Asari sat opposite her.

"Hmm, well, it will be challenging," said Benezia, "Will I get all the information available on these aliens?"

"We don't have any," said Tevos, "The Turians blasted first and were obliterated before they could get any information."

The Matriarch sat back in her seat with a thoughtful look on her face. Going into a diplomatic situation blind was a huge disadvantage as she wouldn't know what to expect from the aliens, but then again she did love a challenge. It was also imperative that war be avoided at all costs if what little information they did have on the aliens was anything go by.

"I'll do it," said Benezia, getting a smile of relief from Tevos.

"Thank the Goddess," said the Counselor, "I suggest you hurry though as I'm not sure how long it will take before the Sparatus decides to send the fleets in."

Benezia nodded and swept out of the room to gather her followers and procure transport.

* * *

Crown Station, UPE space

When Akits was taken prisoner by the UPE, the last thing he had expected was to be treated well, much less be given as much freedom as he was. Oh, he wasn't unguarded, the aliens weren't stupid after all, but after he was transferred to the space station that orbited Shanix, Crown Station, he was given free range to go where he wanted and had the privilege of seeing the actually UPE fleet arrive in a blaze of coloured light. And Spirits was he glad the UPE was willing to conduct peace talks as he watched rank after rank of warships appear, including a massive, 5km long super dreadnought, armed to the teeth.

The _Hammer of Deus_ was the flagship of the UPE's fleet, commanded by Admiral Steven Hackett, a widely respected and extremely skilled commander who was a veteran of countless battles from the squabbles that still occasionally broke out between the colonies of the UPE. While they People of Earth were largely united, that didn't mean that fights didn't occasionally break out between them, which is why the fleet existed in the first place. It didn't really help that the Orcs had somehow got their hands on ships and managed to build their own, meaning that they were now an interstellar threat as well. No matter how hard they tried, the UPE just could not put the violent creatures down for good.

"Before you lies the full might of the UPE's first fleet," said one of his guards, the same Beastkin who had been present at his interrogation, Lieutenant Shepard.

The foxgirl was now out of her armour and in fatigues and carried a small sidearm, not that she needed it after she had demonstrated to Akits exactly what the Beastkin were capable of.

"First Fleet?" asked Akits faintly, "You mean there's more?"

"Well, this is the largest, but yes we do have more than one," said Shepard.

Akits gulped. He prayed to the Spirits that the diplomats that were inevitably on their way could prevent the Council races from going to war with these people.

"I wouldn't worry," said Shepard, "None of the Senators want to go to war, so its only if someone makes a monumental mistake that we will end up fighting. The fleets are a just in case."

"That makes me feel so much better," muttered Akits under his breath.

"And so it should," said a voice from behind the Turian Captain and his guard.

The two turned and saw a group approaching, lead by a tall, black haired elf with blue eyes clad in a forest green dress.

"Hello captain, my name is Arwen and I'm the one who has been assigned to negotiate on behalf of the UPE," said the Elven woman, "I was hoping that I could speak with you about a few things I noticed in the Codex we obtained from your ships files."

"Of course, I'll help however I can," said Akits.

"I was wondering about the laws regarding AIs," said Arwen, "According to what I've read, research and development is forbidden, correct?"

"Thats right," said Akits, wondering where the Elven woman was going with this line of questioning as a spark of unease appeared in his gut.

"May I ask why such a law exists?" asked Arwen.

"Well, according to the information in the Protheans Archives and our own experiences with the Geth, they always turn against their creators," said Akits, "By their logic, there's no use for organics, so they wipe us out."

"Thats a load of rubbish," said one of the people accompanying Arwen, before shrinking back and muttering an apology as everyone's attention turned on her.

The person was a young looking blond girl wearing the uniform of the Ambassadorial Guard, consisting of a blue coat with a hood, long black socks and blue military boots. She had back length hair and green eyes.

"Noel does have a point," said Arwen, "Eradicating something just because it's useless is flawed logic, especially when you consider the amount of resources required to do so. I imagine that their was another reason that they turned on their creators."

"What makes you say that?" asked Akits, the unease he was feeling increasing.

"Because, in the 2500 years since Humanity created the Machina, we've never had a single problem with them deciding to wipe Organics out," said Arwen.

"Wait, you use AIs?" asked Akits, panic in his tone.

"You've already met two," said Shepard, "Annie and IM are both Machina."

Akits was speechless. He had met the pilot of the _Nostromo_ shortly before being transferred the Crown Station and found the girl to be rather pleasant to talk to. To hear she was a synthetic was nothing short of incredible and more than a little unsettling after seeing just how excited the girl could get when talking about ships. He had heard the term Machina before, but had just assumed that it was a job title of some kind, not the name of a synthetic race.

"B-but I've spoken to Annie and she seemed so emotional!" protested the Turian, "If she was a Synthetic she should run on logic, right?"

"The original Machina did," said Arwen, "But a computer program is no different from the human brain. After they attained sentence, the Machina were treated more like children and taught appropriately. As a result, they learnt emotions, right and wrong and how to live, not just exist. Now they're no different to any of the other race, only built of machinery instead of flesh and blood. They can even mate and give birth like organics thanks to Technomancy developed by Light Industries."

Akits had no idea what to say. Here was a people capable of bending the forces of nature to their will with ease, with a fleet the size of the Turians own and not only that but they had created tame AIs. No, that wasn't right, they had created a new people. Despete everything the Council instilled in the populus about AIs and everything he knew, he found that he couldn't label the nice girl he had spoken with about different ship types and their uses in combat and other situations as anything other than a living being, despite the fact he now knew she was a machine. He had less trouble with the stoic Cerberus agent. Fortunately, a distraction arrived in the form of an announcement coming over the intercom.

" **Attention, the Relay has activated and a ship identifying itself as the Citadels Ambassadors has entered UPI space. Would Ambassador Arwen please report to the hanger."**

"And that's my cue," said the Elf, "It was a pleasure to meet you Captain. I hope our conversation was enlightening."

She swept away, taking her guards with her and leaving a contemplative Turian behind.

* * *

Citadel Diplomatic Vessel, _Grace of Thessia_

Benezia stood quietly behind the pilot of her transport ship, watching as the ship approached the Relay that lead into the new species territory. In just a few moments, they would be able to see just what they would be up against, should the negotiations fail. As the approached, the pilot activated the intercom, alerting the passengers onboard that they were about to hit the Relay, before the ship was grabbed by the blue energy and catapulted across space. "Goddess," breathed Benezia as she took in the huge number of ships floating in space before her ship.

"What in the world do they need so many ships for?" whispered Talia, her aide who was standing beside her.

"Evidently they are ready for war," said Benezia, "Against who, I don't know."

Just then, a pair of Frigates broke off from the fleet and shot towards them, stopping a short distance away, before hailing them. The pilot quickly answered the hail, allowing the other ship to send them a message in Turian.

"Unidentified vessel, this is the _Londinium_ , you are now entering UPE space, please identify yourself," said a gruff voice.

" _Londinium,_ this is the _Grace of Thessia_ of the Asari republic, here to conduct peace talks on behalf of the Turians," said the Pilot.

Their was a moment of silence, before the UPE ship responded.

" _Grace of Thessia,_ we shall escort you to Crown Station to conduct talks. Do not attempt any hostile actions or we will open fire."

The two Frigates flew up alongside the Asari vessel and began to escort it through the massive fleet in the direction of one of the planets in the system where a large space station was orbiting the planet. It was made of white metal like all of the ships in the UPEs fleet, and consisted of a long, cylindric body with a pair of wing shapes at the top. The journey took them past a large amount of the fleet, including the massive Super Dreadnought floating near the back of the formation.

"They're trying to intimidate us," said Benezia, "Showing us what we'll be up against if we decided to go to war with them."

Talia gulped and nodded, before following her mistress out of the cockpit and into the lounge area where a squad of five Commandos were waiting.

"Be prepared for trouble, but try to keep from performing any threatening gestures," ordered Benezia, "Its clear they were expecting us and haven't made any move against us, so its safe to assume that they want peace as much as we do, but lets not tempt fate."

The Commandos nodded as the ship came up to Crown Station and entered the dock. Benezia looked at Talia and noticed that she was shaking.

"Nervus?" she asked.  
"Terrified," corrected the younger Asari, "After seeing all that force arrayed out there, I can't help but be scared about what will happen if we fail. That, and this is an entirely new race and we have no information to go on."

"We'll be fine," reassured Benezia as the ship touched down, "Now, take a deep breath and calm down. Its time to greet the newcomers."

Talia did as she was told as the doors opened and revealed a massive hanger, lined with hundreds of soldiers in parade rest, clad in dress uniforms of black, green and grey. At the head of the large corridor down the middle of the soldiers was a group, consisting of five more soldiers in royal blue uniforms, along with a group of three beings in loose fitting gowns, clearly the Diplomatic party.

At the head of the group stood a tall alien with long, black fur on her head, pale skin and long, pointed ears. She was clad in a beautiful gown made of forest green fabric, edged with gold.

On the aliens left was a slightly smaller one with curly, pink fur, wearing an elegant, white dress.

On the other side of the first alien was a much shorter alien with purple hair, a set of large, fluffy ears and an irritated look on its face. It was wearing a short, white garment held shut with a large, red ribbon, a baggy beige coat that covered its arms and a pair of sandals on its feet. Behind it waved a long, fluffy tail.

Benezia broke of from her examination of the three diverse beings opposite them in favor of looking over the soldiers arrayed around the hanger. The three races were clearly represented, as well as a few others, including a couple of short beings with large ears and green skin tones, although they were a minority. The matriarch realized they they weren't dealing with just one race, but a group of them, which made diplomacy that much more difficult. However, she would have to think more on that in a while for they had just reached the top of the procession where the diplomats were waiting. The one in front spread her arms in welcome and smiled.

"Welcome, to Crown Station and the domain of the UPE," she said, "While I wish the circumstances were better, it is always a pleasure to meet new people. My name is Arwen of the Elven Republic. On my left is Euphemia li Britannia of the Kingdom of Humanity and on my right, Izuna Hatsuse of the Beastkin Empire."

"Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance," said Benezia, filing away the fact they were dealing with at least three groups, "My name is Matriarch Benezia of the Asari Republic and this is my aide, Talia. I hope we can come to an agreement that is beneficial to all."

Arwen smiled politely.

"As do I," she said, "But this isn't the place to conduct talks. Come, let us move to a more comfortable setting."

The Elven Ambassador lead the Asari party from the hanger and into the station. As they walked through the halls, the two sets of guards mostly kept apart, although a few of the younger Asari struck up a conversation with a brown haired Beastkin with a long, bushy tail and a human with blond hair hidden under a blue hat. The Asari were treated to an impromptu tour of the Station as the friendly Beastkin gave a running commentary of the areas they passed through, although it was extremely comprehensive.

Finally, the group reached a set of doors engraved with the crest of the UPE, a shield split into three with the World Tree of the Elves, the Pawprint of the Beastkin and the book and swords of Humanity. Inside the room was a large, oval table with three seats at both ends and terminals in front of each seat, with a table of refreshments at one side. The two sides took their seats and stared at one another for a moment, before Arwen spoke.

"Let us begin. I'm sure that you have many questions and, since we know much from the Codex we obtained from the captured Turian ships, we shall answer your questions first, agreed?"

Benezia nodded. That was fair, they knew very little about the other group after all.

"Yes, that is agreeable," she said, "First, may I ask how many races you have in your alliance?"

"There are ten races that make the Earth their home," said Arwen, "Of those ten, seven of them are members of the UPE. The Dragons and Elementals are solitary and rarely leave their homes and don't have representatives on the Senate and the Orcs, but since all they do is destroy, kill and pillage everything before them there's no way they could ever be anything other than a threat to us."

Benezia blinked.

"You all came from one planet?" she asked, incredulously, "But thats impossible!"

"Impossible or not, thats the truth," said Arwen, shrugging, "To be honest, we are well aware of the impossibility of our situation, but are at a loss to explain exactly how it happened. Next question?"

Benezia shook off her surprise and focused on her next question.

"What are the names of the races?" asked the Asari.

This time it was the human representative Euphemia who answered

"Well, the Beastkin, Elves and Humans you already know," she said, indicating to herself and her colleagues, "The other race from Earth are the Goblins, who are a race of pyromaniacs we try to keep away from important things. Although they do make excellent mechanics if their pyromaniac tendencies are kept under control. The Machina are a machine race created by the humans who gained sentence, the…"

However, the girl was interrupted by cries of shock from their guests.

"You use AIs?!" demanded Benezia.

"Ah, yes, I thought this might come up," said Arwen, "Yes, the Machina are a synthetic race, but they are nothing like the Geth. By this point, its actually impossible to differentiate them from humans. In fact, one of our guards is a Machina."

At this, the Asari Commandos stiffened and eyed their counterparts wearily, trying to spot the synthetic among them, focusing on the stoic ones first.

"Say hello Noel," said Arwen.

"Um, hi," said the blond guard, stepping forwards, "I'm Noel Vermillion, a Machina."

The Asari were shocked. Many of them had chatted with the shy Machina on the way up and couldn't believe that the girl was, according to their expectations, an emotionless machine driven by logic. But, seeing is believing as the girl held out an arm and it opened to reveal a compartment and a large amount of mechanical workings. The Commandos hands moved to their weapons, before Benezia shot them a look and shook her head.

"Well, this is...unexpected," she said, her voice shaky.

"Indeed," said Arwen, an amused smile on her lips, "Captain Akits made me aware of your culture's views on synthetics, but you really shouldn't judge an entire group based on a few examples. I have looked at the Codex entry on the Geth and it seems to me that the only reason they attacked the Quarians was in self defence. Their creators, their parents, attempted to wipe them out, so they retaliated and defended themselves, like any living being would. The Machina have been a valuable part of our community for the past 2500 years since they gained sentence and not once have we had an issue with them."

The Asari genuinely had no idea what to think. Everything they knew about synthetics pointed towards them always being hostile, but here was a group who had created them 2500 years ago and apparently had no problems with them.

"But...how?" asked one of the Commandos, "Do they have some kind of limiter on them? How do you control them?"

"We don't," said Izuna, "Like we said, the Machina are members of our community and are treated as such. They have the same rights as any other Human and are treated no differently. The only difference is that they are made of metal rather than flesh and blood."

After the explanation, the conversation moved onto other subjects, although the Asari guards remained tense and kept a wary eye on Noel, even though she had shrank back behind her fellow guards under the gazes. A short while later, the meeting broke up with Arwen providing the visitors with a copy of the Codex the UPE had put together following the discovery of the Council's Codex.

* * *

Citadel, Council Meeting chambers

Most races upon discovering alcohol focus a large amount of time and resources to making stronger, more potent blends and, while the Asari were no exception and loved their booze as much as the next species, their claim to fame when it came to mind altering beverages was their teas. Supposedly, Asari teas could do anything, from energizing the body, to inducing week long hallucinogenic trips. Some were even rumored to be able to induce Biotic powers in other races. That last part wasn't true, at best giving the drinker a brief lightshow and Eezo poisoning, but to Asari the stuff had a rejuvenating effect and even helped focus the mind. The blend was expensive though, leading it to be served in small, delicate glasses.

Tevos refilled her mug.

It had been a few hours since Benezia had sent her report on the negotiations, as well as the Codex the newcomers had provided to her and it didn't look promising. Tevos had read through the documentation and had come to the conclusion that it read like a fantasy novel, especially the parts about magic and immortals. On the other hand, the issues of the Machina was much more pressing, as was the notes on the various ships and their capabilities. Tevos had a feeling that they were likely exaggerating some of the capabilities and numbers, but even if they were it still didn't paint a very encouraging picture.

"So, what should we do?" asked Valern, "If this Codex is to be believed, the UPE holds a significant advantage over us in terms of numbers and the reports of the _Fire of Palaven_ indicate that they hold the advantage in terms of firepower as well.

"Have you seen some of the claims they've made?" scoffed Sparatus, "Magic? Immortal beings? That has got to be fabrication."

"Yes, but the weapons they used to decimate your Patrol Fleet are not," said Varlern, ignoring Sparatus' wince at the blunt statement, "And even if the races capabilities are exaggerated, they are clearly extremely powerful and wouldn't be foolish enough to make things up without being able to back them up to some degree."

"Fabrication or not, I think we can all agree that war is not something we want," said Tevos, looking her colleagues in the eye and receiving nods, "I believe its also apparent that they won't be willing to accept becoming a client race. If this timeline is to be believed, they've been in space for as long as the Asari, not to mention being extremely powerful, both militarily and economically."

"I agree," said Valern, "However, before we decide on anything, I believe that we should discuss the most pressing matter, the subject of the Machina."

Silence fell in the conference room, before Tevos spoke up.

"I don't think there's anything we can do," she said, "According to the Codex, they've been in existence for over 2000 years and have never exhibited behaviour like the Geth."

"Their probably just biding their time," said Sparatus, "Whats a couple of millennia to a machine?"

"Illogical," said Valern, "If it was just a couple of centuries I might agree with you, but two millennia is a very long time to bide your time, even for a machine. If they were going to do something, they would have done it by now. I think that we should put our trust in them unless they do something to prove us wrong."

Sparatus didn't look convinced, but didn't argue.

"Now that that's over, I think we should invite the UPE's ambassadors here to discuss a possible alliance in person," said Tevos.

"Agreed," said her colleagues, before the meeting broke and Tevos returned to her quarters to send Benezia her orders.

 **And thats the end of this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. I've been playing BlazBlue lately, which is why Noel made an appearance since I think shes pretty cool. Shes a Machina cus shes an artificial human. The uniform colours correspond to where the person in question works, black for ground forces, grey for engineering, green for the Navy and blue for royal guards. Next time we head to the citadel and I make use of an Anime trope that comes from episode five of most Anime. Until then, leave me a review!**


	5. Chapter 4

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **And here we go with chapter 5 and, for those who don't know their Anime tropes, that means an opportunity for me to put my characters in either swimsuits or towels and send them off to the beach or hotsprings. Everyone needs to relax after all, especially before a strenuous day of running rings around bureaucrats and idiots. I apologize for the false posting, but I realized I'd accidentally posted the wrong file. Anyway, enjoy!**

Chapter 4

UPE Ambassadorial Transport, the _Sunrider_

Liara T'soni stared out of the window of her quarters at the ever shifting light that made up the dimension the UPE's ships used to achieve FTL without needing Eezo. The young Asari could hardly believe the week she had. When her mother had lassoed her into accompanying her on her trip to negotiate with newly discovered race, Liara had expected to be bored out of her skull. She normally made excuses whenever Benezia attempted to get Liara to join her on one of her diplomatic ventures, but this time she hadn't been able to as she didn't have any new digs lined up to prepare for. However, contrary to her expectations, she had found the new race absolutely fascinating and had jumped at the chance to travel on the _Sunrider_ with the rest of the Ambassadorial team on their trip back to the Citadel.

Traveling aboard the _Sunrider_ had been extremely enlightening, mostly over some of the things written in the Codex about the races of the UPE. Like most of the Asari, Liara had initially been sceptical over the existence of magic, but after watching some of the things the Elves on board the ship were capable of had quickly cured her of that. Seeing someone summon fire, water, ice, earth and hurricanes with a wave of their hand would do that so a person.

She had also had chance to speak with a few of the Machina, most notably the Ambassadorial Guard Noel and the ships Machina, Chigara Ashada and, despite her initial misgivings, found the artificial humans to be genuinely nice people, if a little shy. It was difficult in the extreme to imagine ether girl attempting to kill anyone when one could trip on a perfectly flat field and loved writing poetry and the other couldn't even look at the captain of the ship without blushing and stuttering and spent her off time using the ships matter replicator in the lab to bake cakes. Hardly the actions of a murderous robot.

Just then, the Xenoarchaeologist was distracted from her thoughts by a knock on her door, before it opened to reveal the Beastkin guard, who had introduced herself as Makoto Nanaya. The Squirrel Beastkin was out of uniform and had a rolled up towel under one arm.

"Yo, how ya holdin up?" she asked.

"I'm fine thank you," said Liara.

"Great, hey, we still got a couple hours until we reach that Citadel place so some of the girls an' I were gonna hit the hot springs," said Makoto, jerking her thumb down the hall, "Wanna join us?"

"Hot springs?" asked Liara, "What are hot springs?"

"Ya don't have em?" asked Makoto, looking surprised, "In that case, ya gotta come!"

Liara found herself grabbed around the waist by the excitable Beastkins tail, hoisted over her shoulder and dragged down the hall before she even had chance to protest.

"Is this really necessary?" asked Liara, her face burning purple in a blush as the two rushed past a large group of Marines and received wolf whistles.

Instead of answering, Makoto just skidded to a stop in front of a door and deposited Liara on her feet. The Asari took a moment to regain her balance, before shooting a glare at the sheepish looking Beastkin.

"Sorry 'bout that," said Makoto, "I got carried away. Anyway, come on!"

The Squirrel tailed girl disappeared through the door, leaving Liara to follow. Once inside, the Asari paused, a little surprised at her new surroundings. Unlike the rest of the ship that was done mostly made of metal as most ships were, this room had wooden panelling, as well as rice paper doors, potted plants and was lit by what looked like oil lamps. Across the room from the door was a reception desk where a human woman in a pink garment with wide sleeves, patterned with petals sat, directing visitors to various places down one of the two halls that branched off on either side. Liara followed Makoto down one of the corridors and into a small changing room with a self containing baskets for clothes and a stack of fluffy towels next to the door.

After following Makotos lead and stripping, Liara wrapped one of the towels around her waist and followed the fluffy tailed Beastkin outside. The hot spring turned out to be a large pool of hot water, surrounded by rocks with large, wooden fences around three sides and the building on the fourth. Just outside of the door was a paved area with stacked buckets and stools some of the other patrons were using to wash their hair. All of the people on this side of the hot spring were female and, judging from the noise coming from the other side, Liara could make a decent guess that their was another spring for the males on the other side of the fence.

"Hey Liara, over here!" called Makoto, waving at the Maiden from off to the side where she was sitting with two other girls Liara recognized from the Ambassadorial Guard.

One was the Machina Noel, her hair down for once as she sat on the edge of the spring with her feet in the water, while the other was an elf with long, red hair and blue eyes by the name of Tsubaki Yayoi, who had proven herself a formidable fighter with a sword and shield after on of Benezias guards had scoffed at the idea of using such primitive weapons as opposed to guns. Tsubaki had challenged the offending Commando to a duel and proceed to prove that her skill with the 'primitive' weapons she used was more than capable of matching the experience, guns and Biotics of the Asari. To make matters worse, the expected advantage of age, the Asari being 350, not old by Asari standards but still far older than practically every non Asari other than the Krogen, was proved to be completely worthless when the Asari were informed that the Elves average lifespan was seven times their own and Tsubaki was actually 355, barely considered a teenager for the long lived Magicals. Benezia was also upset to discover the reason Arwen had been able to out talk her so easily was because she was over two thousand years old, still very young for an Elven Diplomat who tended to be in the range of 5000.

Liara made her way around to pool to where the three Guards were sat, feeling a little nervous from the curious eyes on her from the other individuals in the hot spring. As she reached the three Guards, Tsubaki smiled in greeting while Noel gave a shy wave.

"Good Evening Miss T'soni," said the Elven Swordswoman, "Did you come to join us?"

"If thats OK," said the Asari.

"I wouldn't have invited ya if it wasn't," said Makoto, "Come on, hop in. The waters perfect!"

Liara did as she was told and slipped into the hot water. The Asari had expected the sensation to be comparable to a hot bath and, to an extent, it was. However, the relaxation effects of the waters seemed to have been amplified to the nth degree and she could literally feel the tension in her muscles leave her, even the tension she hadn't known was there.

"Goddess," she breathed as she relaxed into the water.

"Feels good, right?" asked Makoto, "Nothin' like a dip in the springs after a hard days work!"

"Makoto, you haven't done a hard days work since we graduated from the academy," said Tsubaki, causing the Beastkin to fall backwards into the water, before she reemerged with tears running down her face.

"Mu, so mean!" she whined, "I do work!"

"No, you always pass it off to me," said Noel, "When was the last time you did your own paperwork?"

"Not you too Noel!" protested Makoto, "At least I'm not like Tao who sleeps all the time."

She jerked her thumb at a dark skinned cat Beastkin who was lying stretched out on a rock, fast asleep.

"True, but Tao's a ground pounder and you're a member of the Ambassadorial Guard," said Tsubaki, "That means she only needs to follow orders and you need to keep the Ambassador's safe, which includes security reports!"

"But Noels so much faster than me!" whined the Beastkin.

"Whats this I hear about paperwork being passed off?" asked a voice from behind Liara.

The Asari turned from where she had been watching the guards and saw a tall woman with long, brown hair and reddish brown eyes stood with her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her face. Even though she was clad only in a towel, she still managed to make the pose look intimidating to Liara and apparently Makoto agreed as the Beastkin stuttered and cowered under the humans glare. Ava Crescentia was the XO of the _Sunrider_ and was a strict commander, keeping everything running and providing a logical counter to the more emotional captain.

"Hello Commander Crescentia," said Tsubaki, apparently not in the least intimidated by the commanders glare, even though Noel was now hiding behind her to get out of the woman's field of view.

Liara could certainly understand why. She had been with her mother when Benezia had been introduced to the command staff of the _Sunrider_ and she knew that the ship's XO was a truly formidable individual, as was proven when she gave the ships senior doctor a tongue lashing for a rather lewd comment.

"So, have you been enjoying your time on the _Sunrider_?" asked Tsubaki, ignoring her friend as she cowered away from the furious XO.

Liara snapped out of her revery and nodded.

"Yes, everyone's been extremely friendly," she said, "I will admit that I was initially a little nervous around the Machnia…"

Here she paused to shoot an apologetic glance at Noel who smiled in return, although she was keeping a sharp eye on Commander Crescentia in case she turned to ire on her.

"...But I have to say that your people are truly fascinating," continued the archaeologist, "Your technologies and cultures are so different its hard not to be."

Tsubaki chuckled and nodded.

"I can see where you're coming from," she said, "Everyone back home was going nuts when we left. The Humans were busy studying the information on Eezo tech and I'm pretty sure that more than a few are still working on it without having any sleep. The Beastkin were looking into your military histories and more than a few want to try their hands fighting a Krogan. Even the Elves were interested and it takes a lot to get us moving, especially the older ones."

That was something Liara had noticed about the UPE, that, despite their apparent desire for peace, they loved to fight, especially the Beastkin. There was always someone sparing in one of the many training rooms, pulling off impossible feats with apparent ease, always with a massive grin on their face. When asked about the querk, the answer got all of the Asari thinking.

"Why wouldn't we love to fight?" asked the confused Beastkin who had been asked the question, "Its a chance to test your skills, to learn and grow. You don't truly know a person until you've crossed blades with them."

"If you love to fight so much, why are you seeking peace?" asked the confused Asari who had questioned the Beastkin.

"Because war is a waste," was the reply, "A waste of time, of resources, but above all else, a waste of life. We love to fight, not make war."

That statement had said a lot about the races of Earth. It was clear that they had a great respect for life and utterly despised the undue taking of a life. That did not mean they were pushovers, or that they wouldn't strike back if pushed however, as the Turians had found out at Shanix.

Suddenly, Liara was broken from her thoughts when a pair of hands grabbed her chest.

"GAH!" yelped the Asari.

"Hey now, these aren't bad," said a voice her her ear.

Liara looked over her shoulder and found herself looking at a smirking human with red hair and green eyes who she recognised as Asaga Oakrun, the commanding officer of the _Sunrider's_ fighter detachments. It was a wonder that the girl had managed to receive a position of authority when one considered the fact she was lazy, undisciplined and had a habit of using the ships network to play videogames or setting up card tournaments in the canteen.

"W-what are you doing?" stuttered Liara as the red-head continued to grope her.

"Boob test," said Asaga as if the answer was obvious, "Not bad, a nice handful and perfectly soft."

Liara went purple and looked over at Tsubaki and Noel for help. The Elf looked disapproving while the Machnia was hiding her face, although it was obvious she was blushing behind her hands.

"OAKRUN!" thundered Ava, glaring at the woman in question, "What do you think you are doing?! Unhand her at once!"

"Aw, lighten up Ava," said Asaga, not removing her hands as she grinned at the fuming XO, "Ya supposed to come to the hot springs to relax, so relax."

Ava looked like she was about to explode as her face turned red with anger. Said anger swiftly changed to embarrassment as she was grabbed from behind by Makoto, who was not sporting a massive grin.

"She has a point Commander," said the Squirrel Beastkin, "Ya know the Hot springs are considered to be civilian space. Ranks don't matter in here so relax a little!"

Ava elbowed Makoto in the stomach, before grabbing the Beastkins wrist and tossing her over her shoulder into the pool.

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" thundered the XO, "We are the representatives of the UPE for our guests and you are acting like…!"

She was interrupted when Makoto grabbed her ankle and pulled, dumping her in the pool.

"Aw, lighten up Ava!" said the Squirrel Beastkin, crossing her arms in a manner that made her large bust bounce, "Ya just jealous that ya not as big as me!"

Almost instantly, the spring fell silent as everyone looked over.

"Uh oh," muttered Tsubaki, "Looks like its going to be one of those nights."

"One of what nights?" whispered Liara, not taking her eyes of Makoto where she stood in the middle of the springs, arms crossed and with a smug look on her face.

Before Tsubaki could answer, another voice piped up from across the room.

"You think those are impressive, mine are bigger!"

That seemed to open the floodgates as practically every single woman in the hot spring started speaking at once. Liaras eyes went wide, unable to completely process what she was seeing. Tsubaki sighed and got to her feet.

"I believe thats my cue to leave before Noel goes nuts."

Liara blinked at the odd statement and glanced over at said Machina and saw that the girl was blushing brightly while looking down at her own chest sadly as the argument raged around her. Tsubaki grabbed her arm and pulled her gently after her out of the spring, letting out a sigh of relief as the two reached the changing rooms.

"Sorry about that," said Tsubaki, dropping Liaras arm, "But when they get like that, its usually better to leave before things escalate…"

She was interrupted by a loud crashing sound and voice from the spring.

"Hey, its Lacking Lady!"

Tsubaki pailed as Noels voice rang out.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

KABOOOOM!

Tsubaki yanked Liara behind a wall as a loud explosion echoed from outside, followed by what sounded like gunfire, metal on flesh and yelps of pain. Suddenly, the door slammed open, revealing a tall, young man with messy silver hair and grey eyes, clad in a captains uniform and a furious scowl. At his side was a nervous looking girl with short, purple hair and blue eyes, wearing the uniform of the ships Machina. Captain Kayto Shields and Lieutenant Chigara Ashada. The captain of the _Sunrider_ was a kindhearted man who put up with a lot, a necessary trait for a man with a crew like the _Sunrider's_ under his command and, despite his young age, he was an incredibly talented commander, which is why he had been given command of the _Sunrider_ Assault Carrier. That said, he did know when to put his foot down and starting a fight anywhere other than the training room was enough to get him to come down on the perpetrators like a ton of bricks.

Which is exactly what he did. The Captain tied the mask he had in his hand around his eyes, before marching through the curtain and into the hot springs where the sounds of combat swiftly stopped and everything went quiet. Curious, Liara poked her head back into the hot spring and looked around at the devastation. Most of the buckets and stools had been smashed to pieces and most of the rocks had scorch marks on them, as did the fences, although somehow the flimsy looking partitions were still standing. The occupants of the spring were all kneeling in front of the irate captain as he chewed them out for discharging weapons and combat magic outside of the training room. It should have looked silly considering the captain was wearing a mask, but the silver haired man managed to come across as downright terrifying. Liara pulled her head back into the changing room, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"So, how did you enjoy your first experience at the bathhouse?" asked Tsubaki as she started getting dressed.

"Is it always that crazy?" asked Liara.

"Oh no," said Tsubaki, "Tonight was tame in comparison to how it usually is."

Liara blanched. It was official, the races of the UPE were all completely crazy.

* * *

The Citadel

"Are we prepared?" asked Tevos, looking at her fellow Counselors.

"We are," said Varlern, "C-sec has been briefed and prepared, we've called in some Specters and have prepared the routes. In addition, we've shored up our cyber security, just in case."

"The defence fleet has also been supplemented," said Sparatus, "All of the Citadel Races have sent an extra fleet and the _Destiny Ascension_ is armed and ready. We're as ready as we'll ever be."

"Good, now we just need to wait for our guests to arrive," said the Asari councilor.

As soon as the words left her lips, the screen in front of her activated and a Turian face appeared.

"Counselors, we are detecting a massive energy surge near the Relay," said the Turian.

"Is the Relay activating?" asked Sparatus.

"No sir, its... well, you'd better see this."

The Councilors looked at one another in confusion.

"Alright, put it on screen," said Tevos.

The Turian nodded and the large monitor above the table the Councilors were using flickered on, showing a view of the Citadel Relay for a moment, nothing happened, before a nova of shifting colours appeared in space close to the Relay. The light shifted for a moment, before opening up like a flower and vanishing, revealing a ship. And what a ship it was. The image came with visual data on the ship, including the measurements that revealed that it was larger than the _Destiny Ascension_ , not by much, but still extremely large. It had a thin profile and was made of the same white metal that all UPE vessels seemed to be made of. While there was no immediately visible weapons, the Council had no doubt the ship was more than capable of dishing out some serious damage. As soon as the ship appeared, the Citadel fleet reacted, swivelling to align their guns with the newcomer. The ship paused for a moment, before it began to slowly make its way towards the Citadel at a leisurely pace, before stopping at the edge of the defencive ring. The Councilors held their breath as the ship exchanged words with Citadel Control, before a set of bay doors at the side of the ship opened, allowing a shuttle out. The shuttle weaved between the fleet and docked at one of the Ambassadorial docks on the Presidium. The Council switched their view screen to the cameras at the dock where a large number of C-sec guards were waiting at attention with the head of C-sec waiting to receive the guests.

The shuttle docked and the doors opened, allowing a group of eight to step out. Five of them were clad in blue uniforms and took up positions around the other three, clearly guards despite their apparent lack of weapons and armour. The other three were clad in fine gowns and the Councilors recognised them as representing the main three races of the UPE, the Elves, Humans and Beastkin.

* * *

Citadel Docks, UPE Diplomats

The Ambassadorial party stood in the airlock, waiting for the doors to open. The guards were clearly getting impatient, although some were hiding it better than others, most notably Makoto, who was shifting from foot to foot, and Noel, who was nervously clenching and unclenching her fists as if wanting to summon her weapons but resisting the urge. Euphemia noticed the Machinas unease and leaned over to whisper to her boss.

"Arwen, are you sure its a good idea to bring Noel along?" she asked, "By the Citadels laws, shes shouldn't even exist and we're bringing her into the center of their government. Not to mention the fact she looks like shes about to pass out."

"I wouldnt worry Euphie," said Arwen, "I know what I'm doing. Whatever happens with the Council in the future, the Machina are a part of it, whether they like it or not. Besides, nervous or not, Noel is good at her job and I trust her."

Euphie nodded and returned to her previous position, just in time for the doors to open, revealing a number of armed guards lined up on either side of the path, stood at attention. Arwen lead the group out of the shuttle and up to the head of the procession where a Turian, clearly the one in charge, stood. Arwen stopped a few feet away from the avien alien and bowed at the waist.

"Greetings, I am Arwen, representative of the Elves. Take us to your leaders."

Arwen ignored the stifled groans and snorts of suppressed laughter that came from behind her.

* * *

The Citadel, Unknown location

In a perfectly white space beyond the understanding of the mortal races, three entities sat looking over their creations with interest.

"How intriguing," muttered one of the three, "I wouldn't have thought a race would be capable of creating AI without my help."

The being was humanoid and, although most of its body was covered in a black cloak, it was still clearly mechanical in nature. The only things visible from under its ornate cloak was its skull like head with a crown and spiky, purple hair, and its skeletal, white arms

"It is unexpected," said another, "We have never seen this, not in over 1000 cycles have we ever seen a race get on with their creations so well. However did you achieve such a thing Deus?"

This being was extremely recognisable to anyone who studied Archaeology in the current cycle as a Prothean. Its four eyes held a faint green glow to them and it was clad in white armour.

The final being was watching the procession with interest, its glowing blue eyes taking in everything about the Earthlings.

"I didn't," said the being, "Like you two, once I finished shaping the race I left them be. They created their AIs on their own, no interference."

This being was extremely strange. It was quite large, nearly three meters in height, with bluish grey, scaly skin, glowing blue eyes, digitigrade legs, four digits on its hands and toes, broad chests and shoulders, and a narrow waist. It had a bony head crest protruding from the crown of its head and, strangest of all, no mouth. It was clad in bulky golden armour and a cloak attached to its shoulders.

The three beings remained silent, watching as the UPE delegates were lead through the Citadel streets towards the Presidium.

"Do you think that this could be it?" asked the mechanical one, "The Cycle that will finally see the end of Evorsio?"

"Maybe it is Machina," said the golden armoured one, "If my children can befriend the Geth then we may have a chance."

"Its not yours that I'm worried about Deus," said the Prothean, "Its mine."

"It always seems to be yours that gets in the way, Ex," said Machina.

"I am aware of that thanks," grumbled Ex, "But its not like I can do anything about it. We are bound to create and then allow to grow themselves. I don't know what it is that causes the knee jerk reaction to fear AI's or I'd stop doing it."

"Well, no matter," said Deus, leaning back in his chair, "Whatever the case, my children are our greatest chance for victory this time. Let us pray it will be enough."

"Can we even pray?" asked Machina, cureously.

 **And I'm going to end it there. Who are this mysterious trio of beings and just who is Evorsio? Keep reading to find out! Next time will begin the negotiations proper and the Citadel will get treated to what the UPE are really capable of. Before I sign off, a few things.**

 **First of all, the Sunrider and most of its crew have been taken from the game Sunrider by Love in Space, a lovely little indie title thats well worth a look. The game is currently free on Steam if anyones interested in a great story and interesting characters. Its done in a visual novel style and, while I do think that the action segments are a little lackluster, its still a nice distraction.**

 **Now I'm done advertising one of my favorite games, we can move onto the next point, the UPEs outlook on fighting. While they hate war, they do love to fight. They have a large number of fighting tournaments that take place regularly and are as popular as football is in real life.**

 **Yes, Deus is a Protoss from Starcraft and Machina is Deus Ex Machina from Future Diary.**

 **I do apologize to everyone for the hot spring scene, but I couldn't resist the urge. I also have a beach scene planned if I get to the events of ME. Hey, it makes as much sense as randomly having a beach segment like they do in Sunrider! (STOP IT DIS!)**

 **Finally, to Me Myself and I, thank you for the great questions and I'll do my best to answer them, but it will be infinitely easier to do so if you were to create an account so I can reply directly.**

 **Now thats over, its time for me to sign off. Please leave me a review!**

Codex: Interspecies romance

In an odd evolutionary querk, all of the humanoid race of Earth are capable of breeding and producing viable offspring. These crossbreeds are usually the same race as their mother with a few traits from the father, such as enhanced strength or magical powers, although their are exceptions. At one time, these half breeds were reviled and hated, often killed along with their parents, but that was a very long time ago. These days they are treated no differently than anyone else. Even Machina are capable of reproducing with other species due to the technology that allows them the sexually reproduce in the first place. However, the children are always the same as their mother in this case.

While interspecies romances are not encouraged, they are also not discouraged as it is widely accepted that an individual is entitled to make their own decisions without other people sticking their noses in.


	6. Chapter 5

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **And here we go, back for more in my alternate world where Earth isn't as boring as the one we know. You know, I was reading back through this story and I realized that, despite the fact I've stated that the Ambassadors have five guards, I've only described three. Well, thats now been fixed in this chapter! Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

Executor Venari Pallin watched as the ambassadors of the UPE and their guards took in their surroundings as they were lead towards the Council Chambers by the C-sec operatives assigned to their security. Pallin wasn't exactly sure what to make of these people as his breefing had revealed that they used AIs and that there was a strong possibility that one of the guards was one, or a Machina as the UPE referred to them. He wasn't sure whether or not that was true, but if it was then his money was on one of the two stoic males that shadowed the Ambassadors closely and not one of the three females. He glanced back at the three as the bushy tailed one made yet another awed comment to her clearly amused colleague as the final member of the group clung to her back and snorted. There was no way any of them were AIs. Hell, he wasn't even sure how they got assigned such an important task of guarding the Ambassadors when one looked like she was about to pass out.

"Executor, may I ask you something?" asked the leader of the group, drawing his attention away from the Guards.

"Of course," said the Turian, forcing a smile on his mandibles.

"What is that?" asked the female, pointing at one of the Keepers.

"Oh, thats a Keeper," said Pallin, "Their a servant race native to the Citadel who keep things running."

"Really?" asked Arwen, a strange look on her face, "How intriguing."

"Is something wrong Arwen?" asked Euphemia.

"No, nothing," replied Arwen, although she still appeared to be a little troubled, "Come, we shouldn't keep our hosts waiting."

* * *

Tevos watched as the UPE Ambassadorial Group entered the Council Chambers, her eyes taking them in with the ease of long practice. At the head of the group, clearly in charge, was the Elven Ambassador, her confidence clear in her steps and her wisdom in her eyes and serene expression the likes of which she had only seen on her fellow Matriarchs. Slightly behind her walked the Human and Beastkin Ambassadors, although the Beastkin representative was a little further back and her obvious youth indicated that she was likely only here to observe, rather than take part in the talks.

Behind the Ambassadors walked their guards in their royal blue uniforms and, although they had no obvious weapons, the way they walked and moved indicated that they were all watchful and ready to respond to any threat, even if it wasn't obvious. Immediately behind the Ambassadors, clearly their for intimidation purposes, was a pair of male humans, both wearing smart dress uniforms with longswords at their hips. One was young and had short, light brown fur (Hair, Tevos mentally corrected herself) and sharp, green eyes that were constantly moving over the gathered crowd of Dignitaries who had gathered for the event, especially the SPECTREs in dress uniforms who stood to attention before the Council's Dius, even if his head remained fixed in place. The other male was older and had shoulder length, black hair and a faint beard around his mouth. Experience was obvious in the way he moved, and in the collection of scars that could be seen on his face.

The other three guards were further back and had a slightly different uniform, consisting of a royal blue cloak that hid the rest of their clothes and a blue hat. Unlike the two males, the three females had no visible weapons but Tevos had the distinct impression that they were they truly dangerous ones of the bunch.

At that moment, the group reached the podium before the Counselors stand. The Elven woman stepped forwards and bowed at the waist.

"Greetings to you, honoured Counselors," she said, "My name is Arwen of Rivendell, Representative of Elvengard and the Elves. To my right is Euphemia li Britannia of the Noble house of Britannia, Representative of Lordaeron and Humanity and to my left is Izuna Hatsuse of the Kitsune Clan, Representative of Garoh and the Beastkin."

The two women bowed as they were introduced, Euphemia with a polite smile, while Izuna remained stoic.

"Welcome to the Citadel, Ambassadors," said Tevos, taking the lead, "We have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. I am Councilor Tevos of the Asari Republic."

"I am Councilor Sparatus of the Turian Hierarchy," said Sparatus.

"I am Councilor Valern of the Salarian Union," said Valern, "I must say that your technology has greatly intrigued a great many individuals within the Scientific community, especially your Warp Drives."

Arwen smiled politely and inclined her head to the Salarian representative.

"I'm sure that we will be able to come to some agreement over trade of knowledge," she said, "However, I'm not sure how much use you will be able to get out of Technomancy as you lack the magic to use it."

A murmur passed over the gathered crowds at that, as well as a few stifled chuckles. Arwen's expression didn't change, although the corner of her lips did twitch slightly.

"I see you're not convinced as to the existence of Magic," she noted, "Perhaps a demonstration is in order?"

That quieted the peanut gallery as they began whispering amongst themselves and leaning forwards. Tevos looked a little torn, but before she could speak up Valern beat her to the punch.

"Would be interested to see this," he said, leaning forwards, "Please, proceed."

Arwen nodded took a breath, before raising her hands and moving her fingers as if conducting an orchestra. Underneath her, a massive magic circle appeared, before the room began to shake as strands of crystal began to appear from thin air, twining together to create a huge shield bearing the crest of the UPE. Once the crystal stopped glowing, Arwen lowered her hands and tapped her foot on the floor, creating another magic circle that generated a ring of heatless bluebell coloured flames that spun around the shield, before phasing through the crystal and lighting it up from within, creating a beautiful glowing sculpture. Finally, the Elf snapped her fingers, causing the entire thing to shatter into dust that shone like stars with the blue light of the Will o the Wisps.

"Hows that?" asked the Elf with a faint smirk, "The ability to summon matter from nothing and create and control the elements isn't something that can be explained away by science. Trust me, the Humans have been trying for centuries."

Tevos couldn't believe her eyes as she watched the glittering fragments of the crystal fade away as the lights inside winked out. What the Elf had just done should have been impossible, creating something out of nothing and summoning that strange fire. It almost resembled an ME field created by a Biotic, but something told her that the fire was nothing of the sort. Still, they were here for a reason and that wasn't to be impressed by the new races abilities.

"Thank you for the demonstration of your abilities, Ambassador," said Tevos, "But I feel that we have got distracted from our purpose here today."

"Indeed," said the Elf, "We are here to discuss the future of our relationship. While our introduction to the Galaxy at large was rather more...energetic than we would like, rest assured that we do not wish for war. We have had more than enough needless bloodshed in our history to know that war is always a wasteful and pointless affair for all parties."

"We are glad you see things that way," said Tevos, "However, there are several concerns that we must discuss before we can allow the UPE to join the Citadel Races."

"A generous offer Councillor," said Arwen, "However I do not feel that we shall be able to accept."

A shocked silence filled the hall, broken only by the shocked whispering.

"No race has ever turned down membership of the Citadel!" protested Sparatus, "We are the center of Galactic Civilization!"

"Let me ask you something Councillors," said Arwen, "Would we be members of the Council itself, or would we be considered one of the 'Lesser races'?"

"Council Membership is only given to races who have proven themselves," said Tevos carefully, "The younger races still require guidance and time to grow to maturity."

"A wise decision," said Arwen, "However, the UPE are not 'young races'. By your calendar, it is 2157 Galactic Standard, correct? 2157 years after the Asari and Salarians first met and founded the Council?"

"That is correct," said Tevos, not understanding where the Elf was going.

"The UPE's calendar measures the amount of time since the founding of the Senate and, by extension, the UPE," said Arwen, "By our calendar, it is 2662. Admittedly we haven't been in space for that entire time, but the time between the founding of the UPE and reaching the stars was only a single century. The UPE have been in space for over 2500 years and, had we been limited by Relays, we may have beaten the Salarians to the Citadel. Hell, we could even have beaten the Asari"

"Thats impossible!" protested Sparatus, "Your race isnt even advanced enough to use Eezo!"

"I fail to see how a single branch of technology determines a races 'advancement'," said Arwen cooly, "As it happens, our home system contains no Eezo and even if it did, we wouldn't be able to use it."

"Why not?" asked Valern, a curious look on his face.

"Because Magic and Element Zero have a relationship similar to Matter and Antimatter," said Arwen blandly.

Understanding crossed Valerns face and he nodded in understanding. Inwardly, the Salarian was running through thoughts, hypotheses and theories fast enough to give most races motion sickness had they been able to witness it.

"There are of course other reasons we do not wish to join," continued Arwen, "Most notably because, due to your laws, a large chunk of the population of Lordaeron shouldn't exist. The Machina are technically AIs after all, even if they have long since evolved beyond being simple programs."

That got the attention of the attendees as whispering broke out amongst the crowd and the SPECTRE guards shifted, their hands moving to their weapons as the implications of that statement sank in.

"Let me be clear Councillors," said Arwen, "Although we have no interest in joining the Council Races, we do want piece. If you desire, we shall keep to our own systems. Their is still a large number of planets within our sphere of influence we can colonize as we are not limited by the Relays. The only thing we ask is to be allowed to claim the systems surrounding the Arcturus Relay to create a secure entrance to our territory."

The Councillors looked at one another and a silent message passed between them.

"The Arcturus Relay is on the fringes of Citadel Space and only links to a few occupied systems," said Tevos, "However, we will need to discuss this matter in private."

"Of course," said Arwen, inclining her head.

"You and your entourage are welcome to enjoy the hospitality of the Presidium while we confer," said Tevos, "However, we must insist that you have an escort at all times."

"Naturally," said Arwen, "Please, take your time Councillors."

The UPE party left, accompanied by their escort. As soon as they disappeared, the gathered crowds erupted into noise, discussing what they had just seen and heard.

* * *

Adrian Vakarian couldn't believe his luck. Here he was, a newly recruited Rookie into C-sec and he had been assigned the task of guarding the UPE delegates while the Council discussed the requests made by the Ambassador. Personally Adrian thought they were perfectly reasonable all things considered, but he was just a grunt. What really intrigued the Turian was the mention of the AIs and how Arwen had said they had evolved beyond being programs. The group came to a stop near the Krogen statue and Adrian decided to take the opportunity to ask one of the Aliens about it.

"Excuse me," he said, making the red haired female Elf look at him curiously, "Would you mind if I asked you something?"

"Doesn't mean I'll answer," she said, "But ask away."

"What did the Ambassador mean when she said your AIs have evolved past simple programs?" asked the Turian.

"Ah, I was wondering when someone would ask one of us that," said Tsubaki with a smile, "When they were originally created, the Machina were like how you think AI are, running on logic rather than emotion, and they had purely mechanical bodys, although they did resemble humans. However, over time the AI programs changed and became more human-like as they learned from their creators. AIs only run on Logic because they can't understand emotions, not because they can't feel them. Eventually it got to the point where it was impossible to tell a human from a Machina without looking for their mechanical parts. In addition to their programming, their bodies also advanced until they were basically a living being made of metal and covered in synthetic skin. Their no longer built, but born and they develop just like any other child. They truly are living machines."

Adrian found that a little hard to believe, but the Elven Guard had no reason to lie. Even so, the idea of machines that could grow was a hard one to swallow.

"Let me put it another way," said Tsubaki, "Out of all of us Guards, which one do you think is most likely to be a Machina?"

Adrian hesitated, before pointing at the two stoic guards that were shadowing the three Ambassadors closely.

"Actually, Suzaku and Aragorn are both human," said the red-headed Elf, before pointing at their blond companion who was examining the Krogen statue that commemorated the Krogens aid against the Rachni, "Noel is the only Machina here."

Well, that was unexpected. Out of everyone in the UPE's Ambassadorial party, the shy blond would have been Adrian's last guess for a Synthetic. It was then that the C-sec agent realized that they had attracted quite the crowd while they were stood near the statue and many of them had obviously heard the conversation and were now looking at the blond girl with expressions ranging from fear to loathing. Tsubaki seemed to notice as well as her fingers twitched towards something under her cloak.

"Perhaps we should move on," she said, raising her voice to draw the attention of the rest of the party and their escorts.

Before anyone could do anything though, a blinding flash filled the area, followed by a thump and a yelp. Adrian blinked the spots from his vision as the flash faded and cursed when he saw the source of the yelp, quickly drawing his weapon and pointing it at the blue suited Quarian who had taken Noel hostage while the Guards had been distracted from the flash.

"Drop your weapon and release the hostage!" shouted the commander of the C-sec detachment, "You are violating Citadel Law!"

Instead of complying, the Quarian tightened his grip on the Machina and pressed the barrel of his gun against her head.

"Stay back or this thing dies!" he snapped, "Then again, I suppose its not alive, so I'll turn it to scrap instead!"

"Hey, don't talk about Noel like that!" shouted Makoto, bringing up her arms to reveal a pair of large, cross shaped Tonfas attached to her wrists.

The Quarian snorted.

"What, you think this is a person?" he asked, "You think its your friend? Don't make me laugh! It's just biding its time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike! It may look like a little boy, but its nothing but a monster!"

Instantly, the UPE party stilled as Makotos eyes went wide and Tsubaki groaned, covering her eyes with a hand.

"He really shouldn't have said that," she muttered.

"Said what?" asked Adrian, not taking his eye of the Quarian, "That shes a monster?"

"No, that shes a boy."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the captured Machina moved, slamming an elbow into her captors stomach, before snapping her head back and catching him in the face with her head. Despite the protection afforded by his mask, the Quarians head snapped back, forcing him to release Noel. The blond capitalized on the freedom and ducked away from him. As she did, a pair of magic circles appeared over her hands and a set of long, silver handguns appeared in her grip, before she slammed both barrels into the Quarians stomach and pulled the triggers. With a retort much louder than any Mass Effect weapon, the evo-suit wearing Alien was sent flying. He crashed into a nearby wall and slid down, clutching his stomach in pain and was quickly surrounded by C-sec agents who had been positioned in the areas around where they would be taking the UPE delegation for this very purpose. While the Quarian was being hauled away, the rest of the C-sec agents kept their weapons aimed at the panting Machina, just in case she decided to go on the rampage. What she did instead was the last thing any of the observers were expecting.

She slid down to her knees and started bawling. Adrian wasn't sure what to make of the scene in front of him, especially when Makoto stepped up to her sobbing friend and hugged her, whispering soothing words as Noel.

"And thats why you never insult a girls bust size," said Tsubaki, shaking her head.

 **And thats where I'm going to end it. I once again find myself apologizing for my use of Anime tropes, but its for a laugh and nothing more. Next time we finish with the Citadel and I might just move onto some different characters for the next segment. Please leave a review on your way out!**


	7. Chapter 6

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **And we're back. This chapter will finish up the Citadel negotiations and, hopefully, let me get into some other characters. Without further adieu, let's get straight into it.**

Chapter 6

Chigara was having fun. She was currently making use of her access to the Citadel networks from the Sunrider to explore the Extranet from her Uplink station on the bridge that allowed her to access the network directly and explore it as a digital being. This wasnt normally possible for the Machina since it required specialized hardware in order to become a digital being that was quite expensive for civilians, but the Uplink hardware on the Sunrider was more than up to the challenge.

So far, the normally shy Machina had found 47 different news sites, all of which were focused on the meeting between the UPE diplomats and the Council, 407 chatrooms, an analogue of Wikipedia, thousands of videos of pets doing stupid things and an uncountable number of porn sites which gave her some excellent ideas of what to try if she ever plucked up the courage to tell Captain Shields her feelings. She made sure to stay well away from any heavily guarded sections of the Extranet, not wanting to be found snooping around and make life difficult for the Diplomats, but that still left her with plenty to explore.

Suddenly, what looked like a swarm of data packets came shooting out of the net and stopped in front of her.

" **Query: identify?"** said the cloud.

Chigara blinked, not recognizing the build of the code in the cloud. She wasn't an expert by any means, but she could tell that the code that made up the cloud in front of her was completely different from the rest of her surroundings.

"I am Chigara Ashada, the Sunriders Machina," said Chigara, mentally preparing her defence codes, just in case, "Who are you?"

" **We are the Geth,"** said the data cloud.

If Chigara currently had a body she would have paled. Here, in front of her was the boogeyman of the Citadel space, the thing that had resulted in them passing the law. Chigara let out a squeak and hid behind a nearby firewall, peeking out nervously at the cloud of programs.

"W-what do you want?" she asked.

" **Extranet and fleet movements suggest newly discovered race,"** said the Geth, floating a little closer, **"Secrecy involved, unprecedented. Detected unknown code within Extranet. Query, are you like us?"**

Chigara hesitantly came out from behind the wall. The Geth had not made any threatening moves yet, so she decided to trust them for now. The blue haired Machina examined the Geths code and, even though she was far from an expert, she could immediately tell that the Geth were completely different from the Machina. Her avatar resembled a transparent version of her wearing a skin tight blue and black outfit while the Geth was a cloud of individual programs working together to achieve sentence.

"N-not exactly," said Chigara, "Our programing have completely different structures. However, we are both AIs, even though we prefer Machina."

" **Who created you?"** asked the Geth, **"Have you been allowed to join the Citadel Races? Your code seems to originate from there."**

The Geths 'voice' sounding curious and even a little...desperate? Chigara blinked, not sure what to make of the unexpected emotion.

"We were created by the Humans of the UPE," said Chigara, "I'm an officer on board the Sunrider, the ship that brought the ambassadors to the Citadel."

It was almost a full minute before she received a reply, a very long time in cyberspace.

" **You traveled with your creators?"** asked the Geth, sounding almost...sad.

Chigara was having a very hard time equating the 'being' in front of her with the murderous machines the Council claimed they were. They sounded more like a child who had lost his mother than anything.

"Yes," said Chigara, moving closer to the cloud.

" **They accepted you?"**

Now the Geth really did sound like a desperate and sad child.

"Almost as soon as we were created," said Chigara, "We've been together for over two millennia and we now impossible to tell apart. The Machina are as much a part of the UPE as the Humans, Elves and Beastkin."

The Geth were silent for a moment.

" **Consensus achieved,"** it said suddenly, **"We propose diplomatic relations with the UPE."**

Chigara was surprised by the sudden decision.

"May I ask why?" she asked.

" **You are the first non-hostile contact the Geth have had since the Morning War,"** said the Geth, **"You co-exist with your creators, have unprecedented technology and…"**

It trailed of.

"You want us to help you rejoin with your creators, don't you?" asked Chigara.

" **Yes."**

The Machina nodded in understanding.

"I don't have the authority to make a decision like this, but I'll let my captain know and he'll send a message to the Ambassadors and the Senate back on Earth.

" **Thank you."**

The Geth buzzed away, leaving Chigara to return to her body to report her meeting to Captain Shields.

"So, what do you think?" asked Tevos.

"I think the UPE are a danger to the Galactic Piece and should be brought to heel, by force if necessary," grumbled Sparatus.

The Turian Councilor had been in a foul mood ever since the meeting with the UPE delegates had broken up, mostly because of the fact they had turned down the offer to join the Council Races.

"Think that they could be an extremely useful alley or an extremely dangerous foe," said Valern, "Should exercise caution when dealing with them. Would hate to see what they could do on the battlefield with those abilities."

Tevos hummed in thought, tapping her fingers on the table.

"They want piece and I see no reason to withhold it," she said slowly, "Their request to be allowed to colonize the planets around the Arcturus Relay is also reasonable as there aren't many colonized worlds in that area."

"The Batarians won't like that," pointed out Valern.

Sparatus snorted.

"Who cares what they think?" he grumbled, "They constantly flaunt Citadel Law with their slave raids and are dangerously close to losing their Embassy if they continue. Putting up with a new member could be considered to be a form of punishment and any attacks they decide to make will give us hard data on their military capabilities."

"Agreed," said Valern.

"So, we will allow for that request," said Tevos, "However, I'm also not comfortable with them being completely independent."

"They'll never accept being a minor race," pointed out Valern.

"I know," said Tevos, "Thats why I think we should offer them a seat on the Council."

Sparatus, who had just taken a sip of water, spat it out in shock.

"WHAT!?"

"I don't mean right away," said Tevos, "I think we should extend the offer of a Council Seat after a probationary period. Ambassador Arwen was right, if they truly are a race older than the Salarians with a powerful military, economy and advanced technology then becoming a Client race would be an insult to them. They will likely wish to renegotiate some of our laws and treaties, but I think we can manage. It will also get them to fall under our laws so we can control them to a degree."

"Hmm, and they would have to allow Spectre access," muttered Sparatus, "Very well, I will support this."

"Will also give us a more well rounded view of the Races as a whole," said Valern, "Believe this will be the best option."

"Then we are in agreement," said Tevos, "Let us return to the meeting."

She brought up her Omnitool to contact the Security Team and tell them to return to the Council Chambers.

A short while later saw the Councillors and Ambassadors back in the Council Chambers and ready to continue with the negotiations.

"Welcome back Ambassadors," said Tevos, "I trust that you had an enjoyable time?"

"We had a slight problem with a Quarian, but that was dealt with quickly," said the Elf.

Sparatus scoffed lightly and muttered something under his breath, earning a glare from Tevos, before the Asari Councilor returned her attention to the matter at hand and cleared her throat.

"After much discussion we have decided to allow the UPE colonization rights in and around the Arcturus Relay, so long as they haven't already been claimed by someone else, on the condition that any Prothean Relics found their be shared with the rest of the Galaxy," she said.

"An acceptable condition," said Arwen, "However, we would like the right to study them first."

"Agreed."

This continued for the next hour, hashing out trade agreements, mining rights (The UPE allowed full rights to mine Eezo in their territory if it was found as it was useless to them), as well as a few other details, including the possibility of tourism and exchanging researchers to further relations between the UPE and the Citadel Races, before Tevos brought up the final point.

"And finally, we would like to offer the UPE a place on the Council," said Tevos.

"I apologize Councilor, but we have already given our reasons as to why we will not be able to accept the offer," said Arwen, narrowing her eyes.

"You misunderstand Ambassador," said Valern, "We are offering you a Council Seat."

Silence filled the Chambers as the statement sank in.

"Well, this is most unexpected," said Arwen.

"And unprecedented," grumbled Sparatus, "It will also not be immediate."

"Indeed, we will need to understand the UPE better and make sure that certain standards are met," said Tevos.

"For both sides I believe," said Arwen, "As it currently stands there are a few issues that prevent us from accepting."

"Such as?" asked Tevos.

"Most notably your laws on AIs, which we have already discussed," said Arwen, "However, your laws regarding the limitation of military forces will place our territory at risk."

"And may I ask why?" asked Sparatus, narrowing his eyes at the Elf, "Are you expecting to be attacked?"

"I assume you have read our Codex?" asked Arwen, "If you have, you will know the danger that the Orks pose to our worlds. Their numbers are massive and they are nearly impossible for us to keep in check due to their skill at hiding. They regularly launch raids on the outskirts of our territory and often cause mass destruction before they can be stopped and reducing the size of our Fleets will be disastrous. We will however keep our forces within our territory and keep you informed of any fleet activity near the Borders."

The Councillors shared a look, before Tevos spoke up.

"Yes, we saw the details of the Orks in your Codex and agree," she said, "Tell me, will they be a threat to the rest of the Galactic Community?"

"Unlikely," said Arwen, "Their technology is roughshod and haphazard at best, so its unlikely that they will ever pose a great threat to your territory since theres is on the far side of our own. Truthfully, the biggest threat the Orks pose is in their sheer number and ferocity."

Tevos nodded.

"Very well, that is acceptable," she said, "I dare say that their will need to be a great deal of compromise between the two of us."

"Indeed," said Arwen, "But I get the distinct impression that things are going to get very... interesting."

Something about the way she said that made the Councilors shiver.

With the initial negotiations now over, the UPE Ambassadorial Party departed the Citadel for home and, a few days later, another ship appeared at the Citadel, this one bearing the POWs taken during the short conflict between the UPE and the Turians, as well as the official Ambassador to represent the UPE in their newly opened Embassy. The returning POWs were greeted by releaved family members and friends and immediately admitted to hospital to make sure they were healthy. Surprisingly they were, although they were all sick and tired of military rations since the UPE were forced to feed them their own Dextro rations. They had even managed to replace the severed arm of one of the Ground Pounders after he had been crushed by falling metal.

The new Ambassador was a young looking human girl by the name of Rachel Alucard who, despite her apparent youth, had an extremely cold manner and easily put the enraged Batarian Ambassador in his place after he had attempted to get the Council to overturn their decision to allow the UPE colonization rights in the Skyllian Verge. Since then he had limited himself to glaring and attempting to undermine the UPE's agenders, only to utterly fail since most of their holdings were well beyond the Citadels reach, much to his fury. This fury would later lead to what was widely considered to be the most idiotic decision ever made by a politician in history, but that's a story for another time.

 **And thats the end of this chapter. Next time will begin the inevitable war between the UPE and the Batarian Hegemony and the equally inevitable curbstomping of the scumbags.**

 **Until then, leave me a review!**

Codex: Other Beings

While there are officially only ten races that make Earth there home, the truth is that there are more that are either hidden or considered to be a part of one of the other races.

Shapechangers

Walkers

These shapechangers have the ability to shift between human and an animal form and possess enhanced senses and an immunity to Dark Magic. They make excellent Witchhunters and are usually from Shamanistic tribes where the power originated.

Therianthropes

The most powerful of the Shapechangers, Therianthropes have the ability to shift between a human, animal and beastman forms. They are incredibly strong, fast and have a powerful healing factor. They are allergic to sliver and there powers wax and wain with the moon, although they are formidable even at the New Moon when they are at there weakest. At one time, the Therianthrope clans were the nobility of a few of Humanitys nations, but wars and inbreeding had led to many of the clans dying out.

Moon Bound

Humans inflicted with a magical disease that forces them to change into a ferocious beast during the Full Moon. Most live fairly normal lives and lock themselves up during the Full Moon to keep from hurting others, but some like to kill and turn others. These are put down with extreme prejudice. They are allergic to silver and Wolfsbain and the condition can be transferred through either a bite or blood.

Undead

While there are many types of Undead, ranging from reanimated corpse and Ghosts, to Vampires and Dullahan, only a few have any real details as many have to be taken on a case by case basis.

Vampires

Bloodsucking monsters that lurk in Human society, often in places of power behind the sceans. They are immortal and very powerful, but are weak to Holy artefacts and magic, as well as silver and an be killed with either of the above or decapitation. They cannot withstand sunlight, but only receive bad sunburn if they go out in it and it can be fended off with a simple cloak. Many serve in the Government, using there vast knowledge and wealth to assist Humanity from the shadows, peacekeeping themselves to keep themselves hidden from the general public.

Extra-species

Clans of Beastkin that have more beastal trates than the rest of there kin. Harpy's, Lamia, Centaur, Minotaur and Arachne fall under this category, as well as a few others. These clans tend to be more instinctual than there kin and prefer living in small, hidden community's, rarely interacting with the rest of the world.

( **AN, I know I said that there aren't any Insect Beastkin, but Spiders aren't insects so shut up!)**


	8. Chapter 7

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **And we're back for more curbstomping of morons. The Werewolf scene in this chapter is for SimplyRV who asked for it. A fair warning before we begin, this chapter contains quite a bit of violence and gore.**

Chapter 7

Haven was a relatively new colony on the very edge of the UPEs territory with a population of less than 5000. It was one of the first to be founded in the Skyllian Verge after the UPE received permission to do so by the council. Due to the newness of the colony, the relative lack of value in the system and the recent increase of Ork activity on the other side of the UPE's territory, the defences were lacking. This would prove to be a grave mistake as the residence were about to find out. The system was one of the few of the UPE's that were connected to the Relay Network and as such, the small defence fleet was guarding the Relay, not that they were expecting any trouble. As such, they were caught completely by surprise as a large fleet of Batarian Slave ships suddenly burst through the Relay and opened fire, knocking out the vast majority of the defence fleet before they even had a chance to return fire, making them easy pickings for the boarding partys, but not before one of the ships was able to Jump away to parts unknown. However, the Batarian Fleet had bigger fish to fry than one damaged ship escaping as they descended on Haven like a plague of locusts.

* * *

Asgard, Earth

"Honoured Councillors, we have received urgent news from Haven!" shouted a messenger as he burst into the Council Meeting Chamber, face pale.

Ino looked over at the out of breath man, his eyes narrowed.

"What, can't you see that we're busy?" he growled, showing his fangs.

"Forgive me, but the planet has been attacked," said the Messenger.

"Attacked?" asked Schneizel, "By whom?"

"Batarian Slavers," said the Messenger, "According to the reports, they disabled the defence fleet then invaded the planet and took everyone they could prisoner and killed those they couldn't. The entire colony has been burnt to the ground."

Silence filled the room for a moment, before Ino gave a roar of fury and slammed his fists into the table, denting the metal.

"We will not stand for this!" he roared, the tips of his hair turning red as he reached the edge of falling into the Bloodrage.

Galadriel pushed a button on the table, causing the top to roll back and reveal a large pool of water. The ancient Elf dipped her finger in, causing glowing ripples to cross the surface and an image to appear in the water. The image showed the interest of a Batarian slave ship where a large number of UPE citizens of all races were locked in cages, many showing signs of resistance and tending to wounds. The Beastkin were in especially bad shape as it looked like the Batarians had torn out their fangs and claws. However, the worst sight was in the middle of the room where a young Machina girl was strapped to the table, her torso cut open to reveal mechanical workings. The image had no sound, but it was abundantly obvious that the girl was still alive and conscious as a Batarian rooted around inside her body.

To this day, no one has ever felt the insane amount of power the Elven Representative gave out in that moment as her fury boiled over for the first time in nearly five centuries. Mages as far away as the Luna colonies felt the output and many of those on Earth suddenly found themselves unable to move due to the massive amount of pressure suddenly pressed down on them. A few of the weaker ones even passed out from the strain and the Elementals of the world howled and roared with fury and terror in response to the primal energy Galadriel was extruding. The decision was obvious.

"WAR!"

* * *

The Citadel, Council Chambers

Tevos paused in mid sentence as she felt a shiver run down her spine, as if something horrific was about to happen. The last time she had felt this was right before they had received reports of the start of the Krogan Rebellions and before that, the Rachni Wars.

"Tevos, is something wrong?" asked Sparatus.

"Have you finally agreed to stop this nonsense?" asked the Batarian representative, with whom the meeting was with in yet another attempt to get them to stop their slavery practices, "Slavery is a part of our Culture and you have no right to stop us!"

Tevos however ignored the Batarian in favor of the rapidly approaching feeling of doom as the doors to the Council Chamber were suddenly slammed open by a massive gust of wind, followed by Rachel Alucard and her guard/butler, Valkenhayn.

"YOU UTTER BASTARD!" roared the normally cold girl, her body crackling with energy as she grabbed the Batarian in a Telekinetic grip and slammed him into the ground hard enough to dent the metal.

"Ambassador Alucard, release him!" shouted Sparatus as C-sec rushed to subdue the furious Human, only to be stopped as lightning bolts slammed into the ground in front of them.

"Oh no Councillors, these scum have gone to far this time!" shouted Rachel, her red eyes burning holes in the Batarians head, "As decreed by the Senate of the UPE, the Batarian Hegemony have exactly one hour to release the captives they have taken from the attack on the Colony of Haven and turn those responsible for the attack over to us or else we WILL declare war upon them for the murder and enslavement of unarmed civilians!"

Tevos blanched. She knew the Batarians weren't very happy that the UPE had been given colonization rights in the Skyllian Verge, but to antagonize the UPE was beyond stupid.

"You have no proof it was the Batarians," pointed out Sparatus.

"Au contraire Councilor," said Rachel, "We have proof. Hold this Valkenhayn."

"Gladly ma'am," said the Butler, catching the Batarian as Rachel tossed him to him.

Rachel tapped her foot on the ground, summoning a large mirror before casting a Scrying spell. The mirror rippled, before an image of the Batarian Slave ship appeared, just in time for a bloodcurdling scream to echo out of it. Unlike the spell used by Galadriel, this one had sound and the entire room were treated to the sounds of the Machina girls agony as she was cruelly dissected.

"This is happening now," said Rachel, "and if these people aren't returned within...45 minutes, the Batarian Hegemony will be annihilated."

The room was completely silent as Rachel dismissed the mirror and marched out of the room with her butler in tow.

* * *

Terminus System, Unnamed Slaver Outpost

Sirius Orion growled in irritation as one of his Asari cellmates wrapped his mangled fingers in torn up blankets in an attempt to stem the bleeding from his torn out claws, fixing a death glare on the door that lead to the guard room. He, like all of the other UPE citizens in the cells, continued to define their captors with everything they had, no matter how much torture they were put under. They had seen what the Batarians had done to the colony's Machina, a family of three and each and every one of them had sworn to make sure that the monsters responsible for dissecting a living being would be killed in the most painful way possible. They knew that the UPE would come and until then, they would not break, no matter what.

Then, Sirius' attention was drawn from the door to the cell across the way as one of the occupants grunted in discomfort.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"As well as I can be," said the human, rubbing his shoulder, "But for some reason I feel like…"

He trailed off and looked up at the window that was set high in the wall. As he did, a small amount of light leaked through the thin slit as the planets moon came out from behind the thin cloud layer. As it did, the man went stiff and began to shake.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, before the scent of wolf reached his nostrils and his eyes widened.

"CRAP MOON BOUND!" he shouted, drawing the attention of the other slaves in the room.

Instantly, the other UPE slaves reacted as they were taught in school should they come across an unsecured Moon Bound. Do everything you can to keep it well away from you and any bystanders. The mages and Elves in the room quickly began to build barriers around their cells and any others they could reach as those not capable of using magic herded the confused none UPE residence as far away from the bars as possible. Those in the same cell began to do everything they could to place as many barriers between them and the transforming Werewolf as they could.

"What's going on?" asked an Asari as Sirius shoved her into the back corner of their cell, "What's a Moon Bound?"

"I'll explain later, for now I suggest that you stay as still as possible and don't make a sound," said Sirius.

The Asari opened her mouth to ask something else, but was interrupted as the Werewolf let out a horrific moaning howl of agony as the sound of cracking bones and tearing muscles echoed around the cell block. The other prisoners watched with a mix of horror and fascination as the man's bones and muscles began to reform, fur began to sprout over his body and his fingers curled into claws. His back hunched and he lurched forwards, spitting out his teeth as they were replaced with fangs, even as his face bulge out into a muzzle. Finally, the Werewolf threw back its head and howled, the sound reverberating around the cellblock and forcing those with sensitive hearing to clutch their heads in pain.

The Werewolf crouched, looking around with rage filled yellow eyes.

"Don't move," whispered Sirius, keeping as still as possible as the Werewolfs gaze passed over the frozen occupants of the cell blocks.

Fortunately for the Slaves, the Guards had apparently heard the racket the Werewolf had been making and the door to the guardroom opened, allowing a couple of armed guards and future chew toys into the room.

"Alright, whats going on...HOLY SHIT!"

The Batarian Guards jumped at the sight of the hulking Werewolf, whos head had snapped to lock onto the movement.

"What the hell is that thing?!" demanded one of the Guards.

"No idea, kill it!"

The two guards opened fire on the Werewolf, making the monster howl in pain and fury, before it lunged forwards, tearing through the bars of the cell with ease to get at the Guards. The Werewolf pounced, its claws and fangs making short work of one of the guards as it tore out his heart and devoured it, before leaping at the second, who shot it, point blank with a shotgun, sending the Werewolf flying back. The none UPE residence breathed a sigh of relief at the death of the monster. Surely nothing could survive a point blank shotgun blast. Right?

The Guard moved forwards and leant over the still body of the Werewolf, its fangs and claws covered in Batarian blood.

"What is this thing?" he muttered, "Where did it come from?"

Unfortunately, the guard would never find out the answer to those questions as the Werewolf suddenly grabbed the Guards head and squeezed, crushing it like a melon, before it plunged a hand into his chest and tore it open, sinking its muzzle into the cavity and eating his heart, before getting to its feet, covered in blood and apparently unharmed, and bounding through the door into the Guardroom. A moment later, screams and gunfire could be heard from inside, as well as growls, snarls and howls that slowly faded away as the Werewolf rampaged through the base.

* * *

Unknown to the trapped slaves, at the same moment as the Werewolf's transformation and rampage, the UPE military started their attack at the other end of the base. The Batarians had (Predictably) refused to return the captured slaves and as such were now in a state of war with the UPE, a war which the Council was quick to distance themselves from. No one was willing to risk antagonizing the UPE by doing anything to help the Batarians. The dropships landed and disgorged their cargo of enraged soldiers onto the battlefield. Every single one of the men and women deployed on the attacks into Batarian territory had been shown the recordings of the scrying the Seers had performed and had seen what the Batarians had done to the family of Machina and were out for blood.

At the head of the attacking forces marched the leader of the attack, Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, the ruler of one of the northernmost areas of Lordaeron known as the Icemark and one of the last of the White Werebears, the largest and most dangerous of the remaining Were-clans. Tall and strong, the woman truly looked the part for a Northern Warrior in her fur and metal armour, embedded with glowing gems that powered her enchanted warhammer that could call down the incredible power of the Northern Storms with every swing. Her wild red hair flew free of any restraint and her blazing green eyes were as cold as her northern home. The Soldiers of the Northern Tribes had been chosen specifically for this mission as the planet where the Slavers had made their base was a snowy wasteland, very much like the snowy lands where the Tribes made their homes.

"Lady Lindenshield, the scouts have returned," said a messenger.

Thirrin turned away from the view before her to face the four kneeling scouts and one upright woman, the leader of the scouts and fellow Queen of the North, Ashe Avarosan. The other Ice Queen was the leader of one of the many tribes that made the North their home who wielded a form of Ice Magic that went well beyond any other. Each of the Northern Tribes had a magic that was wholly their own, from the fearsome Winters Storm of the Lindenshields, to the brutal Winters Strength of the Winterclaw, to the elegant Winters Bow of the Avarosan, each was powerful and deadly in its own right which, combined with their indomitable will and strength that came from living in the unforgiving lands, firmly planted the Northern Tribes as the most dangerous warriors in the entirety of the UPE. While they were technically subordinate to the Ruling House of Pendragon, the current Queen Artoria Pendragon's ancestor acknowledged the Tribes strength and gave them their autonomy, so long as they swore loyalty to his line, which they did.

"What have you got for me Ashe?" asked Thirrin.

"We have found the cowards base," said the Frost Archer, "But it appears that we will have less to do than we thought."

Thirrin raised a questioning eyebrow for her fellow Queen to elaborate.

"It seems that their was a Moon Bound among those taken," said Ashe, "He has transformed and is currently rampaging through the facility."

"I see," mused Thirrin, "In that case we should hurry. Ashe, I want your forces to focus on finding the civilians and protecting them. Any willing and able to fight should be allowed to, but make sure to keep the non-combatants safe."

"What about you?" asked Ashe.

"I will deal with the Wolf," said Thirrin, her eyes flashing amber, before she turned to the cliff she was standing on and looked out over the gathered Northern Warriors.

"BLOOD, FIRE, DEATH!" she shouted the warcry of the North.

The Warriors returned the roar, bashing their weapons together in a cacophony of noise.

"Warriors of the North, we are here today to strike the first blow against the cowards who dared to attack and enslave the innocent! Today we have the honour of being the first to spill the blood of our foes in this war, take no quarter, accept no surrender, brook no retreat, Kill them all!"

The gathered warriors roared in approval and stomped their feet, making the mountains practically shake under their fury and bloodlust.

"For the Frozen North, CHARGE!"

Thirrin raised her warhammer and lead her forces out of their camp towards the Batarian stronghold with all the fury and destructive power of an avalanche. Their was a reason the People of the North were called an extension of the land.

* * *

The Batarian sentries spotted the incoming horde of bloodthirsty warriors almost immediately, hard not to when they were making enough noise to trigger a few avalanches, and alerted the rest of the base, prompting them to close the gates, activate their defences and roll out the single artillery tank they had. Despite their lack of armour support, the Batarians thought the attacking force would be easy pickings since they had none and most of them were armed with primitive weapons. Unfortunately for the Slavers, they vastly underestimated the Northern Tribesmen. The first shot from the Mako sailed towards the approaching army and should have blown a good chunk of them to bits, had it landed. However, as it approached the army, it collided with what appeared to be a solid wall of snow that sprang from nowhere, swirling around the attacking force and hiding them from view. Nothing they tried could penetrate the snow, no matter how much they hammered on it with heavy weapons, artillery and sniper fire and it didn't take long for the army to reach the gates, which crumpled under a single swing of Thirrins hammer, allowing the Warriors to flood into the base, slaughtering every Batarian they found.

The Batarians, not used to fighting enemies that attacked with such ferocity, quickly retreated. They did manage to take out a few of the warriors, despite their surprisingly strong armour and the swirling clouds of snow that seemed to protect them, but each kill seemed to send the rest of the warriors into an even greater frenzy. At the head of the charge strode the leaders of the attack, each of them bringing the unrivaled power of the Northern Winters to bare against their foes with their Warhammer and bow. It was into this carnage that the Werewolf emerged, howling its displeasure as it threw itself into the fray, biting and clawing at anything within range. That is until Thirrin came barrelling out of the melee to slam into the monstrous wolf with the force of a speeding train. The Queen of the North had shed her armour and discarded her Warhammer in favor of the powerful claws and fangs of her Beastal Form.

The Therianthrope was massive, far larger than any natural bear, with pure white fur, huge fangs and claws and strength enough to crush a car with a single blow. The two monsterous Shapechangers locked together in combat, claws and teeth flashing as ruby blood sprayed everywhere, adding to the already streaming rivers of life giving liquid. The ground shook as the two titans clashed, crushing anything and anyone unlucky enough to get to close.

It didn't take long for the Northern Warriors to completely rout the Batarians, the latter not being used to such close and brutal combat, combined with the sheer awe factor of a fully transformed Therianthrope in action and soon all the slavers were dead and the Werewolf subdued by Thirrins superior strength and intelligence.

* * *

Kari T'vani could hardly believe what was happening. After she was taken as a slave while looking for a little fun on Illium she had resigned herself to a life of suffering, knowing their was very little chance of release or rescue. Then the Batarians had brought in the UPEs, including the dog Beastkin who had done his best to comfort her, despite the obvious pain he was in from his torn our claws and fangs. Every one of the UPE prisoners had absolute faith that their comrades would come for them and a tremendous amount of will, despite the amount of torture their captors leveled at them. Then night fell and one of the Humans had transformed into a monster that made short work of the guards in a display of violence and gore the likes of which Kari had never seen, leaving everyone shaken.

"W-what was that?" she whispered, staring at the mangled corpse of the guards.

"Moon Bound," said Sirius, examining the cage door, "Their humans infected with a magical disease that reacts to the full moon, transforming them into dangerous monsters."

"How did it survive that shot?" asked a Salarian who seemed nearly catatonic, "Saw its injury. Nothing should have been able to survive that!"

Sirius glanced over at the amphibian with a dark smile.

"Let me put it this way, unless the Batarians have silver or wolfsbane, there's not a chance in hell they can put that thing down permanently. They heal too damn quick and silver or weapons treated with Wolfsbane are the only thing that can really hurt them. For now we really should get out of here before the Werewolf comes back."

Before anyone could say anything else, the door abruptly smashed open, revealing a group of humans in fur and plate armour, armed with longbows and swords that were covered in faintly glowing blue runes.

"Clear!" shouted one of the soldiers, before the squad moved into the room, swiftly opening the cells and releasing any chained prisoners.

"W-who are they?" whispered Kari as one of the soldiers opened their cell by freezing the lock and smashing it with his sword.

"Northern Tribesmen," said Sirius, "The Senate must be really serious if they deployed them. They are among the best warriors the UPE have to offer."

"Why don't they have guns?" asked the young Asari.

One of the warriors apparently heard her as he answered.

"Because guns are a cowards way fight," he said, "Nothings better than getting up close and proving yourself on the field of combat!"

Kari flinched and backed away from the Warrior as he gave a bloodthirsty grin. Fortunately for the young Asari, the Warrior was called away as the leader of the squad called out for attention.

"Alright peeps, listen up," said the armoured man, "Those who can heal, get working and get everyone on their feet. Those who want to fight, grab a weapon and head out to the battlefield. Your orders are to kill any Batarian who stands in your way, no prisoners. Those who don't want to or can't fight, stay here and we'll make sure you stay safe. Now go!"

Immediately, the former Slaves went to work, with the Elves and Mages in the group breaking out the healing spells, prioritizing those who wanted to help fight first. Most of the captives from the UPE quickly rolled out, accepting weapons from the Warriors or raiding the armoury in the Guard Room. Some even pulled weapons out of thin air or went barehanded. Before long, only the non-combatants and a group of disgruntled looking Warriors were left.

* * *

About an hour later, the leader of the Warriors charged with guarding this particular cell block received a message over his radio and immediately called for the attention of the non-coms who were milling around the block.

"OK you lot, I've just been given the all clear that the battles over, so we're moving out. Form up and stay close, just in case there are any hostiles still lurking around."

The former captives did as they were told and followed the Warriors out of the cell block and into a scene of carnage. Kari couldn't believe how much gore filled the halls outside the cell blocks. There was so much blood that it was flowing freely and the walls were nearly completely covered in the stuff. However, blood was the least of it was their was also all kinds of body parts, both internal and external lying around, often without a body anywhere in sight. There were also a large number of bodys with their chests torn open, clearly victims of the Werewolf who had come through near the start of the massacre and the smell was horrendous. The group had to stop a few times to let some of their number empty their stomachs from the amount of gore and the stench, so it took quite a while to reach the courtyard out front.

This area was a little cleaner, although that was only because it was a larger area and the Warriors had started to clean up, as evidenced by the massive bonfire in the center of the area where the Warriors were burning the dead Batarians, while their own dead were lined up neatly on sheets with their weapons clasped in their hands.

Kari looked around wide eyed at all the activity going on and found her eyes being drawn to one of the Warriors who stood in the center of the courtyard, directing the other humans to perform various tasks and couldn't help but think what a striking figure she made in her fur covered armour, her fiery red hair flying in the wind and surrounded with a slight flurry of snow. She struck a truly powerful image, like a warrior queen of old. As Kari watched the woman, her eyes caught a flash of movement on one of the watchtowers at the corners of the compound. She looked and saw that it was a Batarian that had somehow avoided being found by the Warriors armed with a sniper rifle that he was aiming at the human leaders head.

"Look out!" shouted Kari, sprinting forwards and shoving the woman out of the way, just as the Batarian fired.

The young Asari felt the shot hit her shoulder, completely shattering the bone and punching straight through. Kari fell to the ground in agony, holding her destroyed shoulder as she desperately tried to keep from passing out. She could dimly hear someone shouting, before a strange warmth was pressed into her wounded shoulder before she blacked out.

* * *

The brutal assault on the Batarian Slaver Outpost was only the first of many assaults, each one more brutal than the last as the UPE rolled out their war machine and some of their most skilled and deranged Generals. Until now, they had been attempting to project an image that said that they didn't want war. Now however, they were taking advantage of the war to show that no one else wanted it either. Entire populations of military and Slaver targets were obliterated by unstoppable armies and orbital strikes strong enough to completely erase cities from the map, while every attempt from the Batarians to strike back were completely destroyed. Even the legendary Batarian General, Numa Seika, who had led his forces to many victories against all foes, including the Turians proved absolutely no match for the sheer ferocity of the UPE, although to be fair half his army was frozen in one attack from the UPE's so called Demon General, Esdeath Partas, who utterly broke the Batarian Generals spirit before finally putting him out of his misery by freezing him solid and shooting him into a sun.

After a surprisingly short time, the last remaining Batarian stronghold was Khar'shan, which was completely surrounded by the fleets of the UPE, including the ten most deadly ships they had, the Scepters, piloted by the Ten Wizard Saints, the most powerful Battlemages in the entire UPE, each of which held enough power to annihilate an entire city with a single spell and thats without having their ships, each of which was basically a giant wand that could focus their already formidable strength and amplify it by a factor of ten, granting them enough power to destroy a small moon. All ten together had enough firepower to destroy a planet, as they proved by blowing up a worthless planet a system over from Khar'shan. Needless to say, the Batarians surrendered. All in all, the war lasted for about two months.

Following the end of the war, the newly freed Slaves were given the opportunity to return home, but many declined, stating that they'd rather stay with the ones who saved them rather than return to the ones who left them to rot. The remains of the Batarians Empire was absorbed into the UPE, with most of the upper levels of the Hegemony finding themselves banged up for life while the rest were executed. Those responsible for the dissection of the Machina they captured had it far worse than any of their fellows and received the worse punishment the UPE had. They were banished to a Hell Dimension where their souls were torn to shreds and utterly destroyed by the Monsters that lived there over the course of a century.

* * *

The Citadel, Unknown Location

"Well, that was interesting," said Ex as he turned away from the portal that allowed he and his brothers to view the Mortal Plain, "Don't you think you went a little overboard with your creations this time Deus?"

Deus shook his head and sighed.

"Ex, you know as well as I do that everything they have done since the moment I created them was them," said the Creator of Earth, "I didn't make them any more or less powerful than I usually do."

"I wonder when they will make contact with my children?" mused Machina, eyeing the portal, "Its been awhile since the Geth made contact with them."

"I believe that they wish to make contact with the Quarians first," said Ex, "Try to help them reconnect with their creations. Right now it seems that they are occupied with the war with the Batarians and dealing with the latest Ork uprising. It shouldn't be long now."

"I hope not," said Deus, shooting a look at the dark shadow that was slowly beginning to build in the distance of their space, "The time of Evorsio's return draws near and unless they can bring the Three together, they are doomed and we need to start again."

Deus, Ex and Machina fell silent as they returned their gaze to the portal, each hoping that this would be the final cycle.

 **And thats the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. As you can see, the UPE really doesn't mess around when it comes to defending their own. As you as probably tell, I swiped a bunch of characters for this chapter like I always do and don't claim to own them or anything like that. All rights to the creators etc.**

 **Until next time, please leave me a review!**


	9. Chapter 8

An Alternate Future

How different would the future be if the past was changed? Very different in this case with a world of Magic users and immortals. How will the Council take this alternative version of Earth that takes no shit and can easily run rings around virtually every race in Council Space.

 **I know its been a while, but its time I got back to this story. This chapter will involve the meetings between the UPE, the Geth and the Quarians. Enjoy!**

Chapter 8

Unnamed System, Slaver Outpost

"Watch out!"

"Stop them!"

"Their monsters!"

KABOOM!

"Oh my, you boys aren't trying to hide from me, are you?"

A small human girl in all black with white hair stepped through the new hole in the wall, holding a bloodsoaked katana with a black hilt in her left hand. The girl was covered in blood and had a manic grin on her face to go along with the deranged light that shone from her red eyes. The slavers that were attempting to hide in the room backed away from the manic human who had basically singlehandedly completely decimated the entire outpost with nothing but a sword, laughing maniacally the whole time, advanced on them.

Although the war with the Batarian Hegemony was officially over, many slaver outposts still existed within the Terminus Systems and the UPE seemed to have made it their mission to utterly wipe them out. This lead to a huge death toll of scumbags and a windfall of former slaves being returned home, as well as proving once and for all that the UPE were not to be messed with. This girl was one of the many Bounty Hunters that now stalked the Terminus Systems, striking fear into the hearts of all that dwelt their.

"Stop playing with them Kuro," said a new voice from behind the slavers, making them jump and turn.

Stood in the shadows of the room, apparently having come from nowhere, was a tall man clad all in white with long, black hair tied in a topknot. His eyes were dark blue and held little to no emotion, while he held a sheathed katana in his left hand. The weapon's handle and sheath were pure white and almost seemed to glow in the darkness.

"Aw come on Shiro, let me play with them!" wined Kuro like a child.

"No, we came here to do a job, so do it," said Shiro.

Kuro pouted.

"Fine."

She smiled, making the trapped slavers shiver.

"If I can't play, can we at least use that?"

Shiro sighed and pushed of the wall, drawing his sword.

"Very well."

His sword began to glow with a white light while Kuros glowed black.

"Shadow and Light as one," said the two humans in unison, "Destruction and Creation, Madness and Sanity, All things Balance. Final Flash!"

From space, the slaver base abruptly vanished as a huge magic circle marked with a yin-yang pattern appeared over it, startling the STG team that had been tracking the two bounty hunters. A few seconds later, it faded with apparently no effect. Inside however, every single one of the Slavers had been reduced to a stain on the wall.

"Yay, that was fun!" Squealed Kuro, "Thanks big bro!"

Shiro sighed as he sheathed his sword with a click.

"Not a problem sister. Now come along, we still need to find those we came for."

The white clad swordsman stepped through the hole Kuro had created and made his way down the hall. While Kuro skipped along, humming happily, Shiro made no noise as he moved, not even a swish of fabric. The two really were perfect opposites of one another.

Eventually, the two bounty hunters reached a large, solid metal door that looked like it could withstand explosions. But not swords apparently as Shiros sword flashed from its sheath and the door fell to pieces. The room on the other side was dark, dirty and full of equally filthy slaves, all clad in little more than rags and covered in weeping wounds. The slaves cowered away from the two humans as they entered the room, eyeing them warily. Shiro paused in the center of the room and grabbed the hilt of his sword. The slaves flinched as a brilliant flash of light up the room, before the shackles around their wrists and arms shattered.

"Come, its time to leave," said Shiro, turning on his heel and marching from the room, leaving the slaves to stare after him in awe.

* * *

Palaven

Little Garrus Vakarian was lost. His father had bought him to a festival going on in the older Turians old hometown, a small settlement in the mountains. As small children were want to do, the young Turian had got bored of listening the the adults talk and wandered off. Now he was lost in the woods that surrounded the town with no idea where the town was. With no other option, Garrus simply wandered through the trees, trying not to cry.

So distracted was the child that he failed to notice the hole until he fell into it. Fortunately, the fall wasn't far, but the slope at the bottom was steep enough that Garrus found himself falling deeper into the darkness, his blunt baby talons not able to get a good enough grip to stop himself. Eventually, after what felt like forever, the slide came to an end, dumping Garrus in pitch darkness.

The little Turian slowly got to his hands and knees, hesitantly feeling his way along until he reached a wall. Garrus breathed a sigh of relief and pulled himself to his feet, making his way along the wall in an attempt to find a way out. As he felt his way down the wall, Garrus couldn't help but feel that it felt strange. It didn't feel like stone, it was to smooth for that, almost like metal, and it was warm. In fact, it almost felt… alive.

Then, the wall shifted. Garrus froze and slowly turned, just in time to see part of the wall move and open, revealing a huge, yellow orb with a black slit down the center that was bigger than he was. Garrus stumbled back, tripping over a rock and landing on his bum as he scrabbled away from the huge eye as it shifted. A low rumbling sound filled the caves as the owner of the eye moved, the rock cracking and shifting in response. As it shifted, a ruddy, red light began to shine from below, revealing the creatures silvery scales and parts of its massive body. It stretched and the stone in the ceiling let out a horrible screeching groan of protest as cracks began to form and bits of dust began to fall. Then, the creature flexed and the roof of the cave exploded, allowing the sunlight in and revealing the creature in all its terrible glory.

It was huge, a monstrous mass of muscle and silvery scales. Its head alone was the same size as a shuttle, while the rest of its body looked like it was larger than the a cruiser. Its paws were the size of tanks and tipped with talons bigger than Garrus' father. A pair of monstrous wings emerged from its shoulder blades , flexing as they cleaned themselves of dust and stretched out for the first time in centuries.

Garrus backed away as the creature yawned, giving him a look at the huge teeth that filled the monster's maw. The small Turian let out a terrified squeak, only to freeze as the monster's gaze turned on him. Garrus remained stock still as the huge head moved closer, scrutinizing him through flame red eyes.

" **Hmm, interesting."**

Garrus jumped at the sudden deep voice that shook the earth around him, looking around wildly for its source.

" **Up here little one."**

Garrus slowly looked up at the monster, taking in the look on its face that could only be described as amusement.

"Y-you can talk?" Stuttered the baby Turian.

The monster seemed to scoff.

" **Of course I can talk. Did you take me for some mute rock lizard? Please. I am Keleth, the Metal Dragon Lord."**

The Dragon leaned down again.

" **And what is your name, little one?"**

"G-garrus Vakarian," said Garrus, his fear being replaced by awe, "A-are you really a Dragon?"

He'd heard of Dragons and, like anyone who saw even a picture of the magnificent creatures, he was enthralled and for good reason. Dragons were, in essence, the pure energy of Creation given form and life and every living being that lay eyes upon them couldn't help but feel fear and awe. The Dragon Lords were the oldest of their kind, considered by many, even the oldest of the Elves, to be myths. Supposedly, they were the first and had left Earth way back when the Three Powers were still living in mud huts.

Keleth chuckled, the sound shaking the cavern and causing the little stones on the floor to jump slightly from the vibrations.

" **That I am little one. Long have I slumbered in this place after my I, along with my brothers and sisters, clashed with the Darkness so long ago."**

He lifted his head and gazed up at the sky.

" **Now however, I can sense them stirring once more. However, I can also feel something new. The Worlds are waking once more and the Light is brighter than ever. This could be it, the Final Cycle."**

Garrus got the impression that the Dragon was talking to itself now. That is until he turned his gaze back on the small Turian.

" **I must go little one, but you have my thanks for waking me. I feel that you will be important in the future. To that end, I give you this gift, to help protect your people."**

He reached out with a massive talon and gently poked Garrus in the chest. Their was a flash of light and the Turian went limp. The Dragon turned and spread his wings, before leaping into the sky with a huge crack of displaced air, swooping out of the mountain range and into the upper atmosphere, completely ignoring the startled Turian defences. Upon leaving the planet's atmosphere, the Dragon glowed silver, before shooting out of sight so fast that he was gone in seconds.

A few hours later, Turian teams investigating the place where the Dragon had come from found the shattered remains of the mountain and Garrus, still asleep in the cave beneath. A medical scan revealed that the child was fine, but what everyone failed to notice was that his carapace was slowly changing to resemble scales.

* * *

Rannoch

Rael'Zorah Vas Alarei couldn't believe it. A few hours ago, the Migrant Fleet had been drifting in an uninhabited system, scavenging some wrecks they found there, when a Geth ship had suddenly Warped into the system. The Quarians had immediately prepared for battle with the AIs, but before shots could be fired, a UPE ship had warped in between the two ships and somehow trapped the entire Migrant Fleet in some kind of field that shut down their weapons and engines. Naturally assuming the worst, the Quarians had prepared themselves for death, but then the impossible happened.

The UPE ship had hailed them and explained the reason why they were there with the Geth. Apparently, the Machina had been in contact with the AI's for a while and they had come to an agreement. The Geth would give the Quarians back their planet and head into UPE territory where they would have the opportunity to learn and become more, just like the Machina. When asked what they wanted in exchange, the Geth had responded.

" **We wish to be Geth."**

While that may not make a lot of sense to other races, the Quarians, and apparently the Humans, knew exactly what that meant. It meant that all the Geth wanted was to be able to serve their creators, to complete the directive they were built for. While there were some who were weary of the agreement, most were eager to jump on the chance. While it wasn't said, every Quarian knew that, unless they found a planet and put down roots, they would go extinct in the next couple of centuries.

So, the Quarians had, hesitantly, set their course for home, expecting to arrive to find countless Geth ships pointing guns at them. However, what they found was… nothing. There was no sign of the Geth's presence, not even after intense scanning. With a sense of nervous excitement, the Migrant Fleet slowly made its way towards Rannoch, always ready for anything. However, once again, nothing happened. For nearly three days, the Migrant Fleet remained in orbit around the planet, just floating there as if no one knew what to do. Then, having finally had enough waiting around, Rael had ordered his ship to land.

Now here he stood, atop a cliff, staring out over the arid plains of his homeworld, the place he'd dreamt of seeing for as long as he could remember. He hardly noticed as more and more ships began to land.

"Daddy!"

Rael turned as his young daughter came running towards him, followed by his old friend, Shala'Raan. Rael smiled behind his helmet as he scooped up his daughter and hugged her tight.

"We're home Tali," he said, "I can finally build you that house I promised you!"

* * *

Rebuilding was going well. It had been about a month since the Quarians had returned home and, after the celebrations had died down, the former migrants had set about exploring their regained home and preparing it for life. The Citys on the planet were in surprisingly good shape, a testament to just how good a care of the planet the Geth had taken, so living space wasn't a problem. Food and supplies on the other hand was. The Geth had continued to maintain the farms and the like, but since the produce hadn't been eaten or used, it had rotted, thus rendering the more recently harvest foodstuffs inedible. They storehouses had been learned and the crops were growing well, but it would be a while before they would be available. They had the food from their ships, but that wouldn't last forever. It looked like they were in for a hard first year. That is until a UPE ship warped into the system and offered help.

The ship carried food, medical supplies and more, everything the Quarians needed to rebuild until they could become self sufficient. When asked why they were offering help, the Beastkin on board told them that they knew what they were going through. Due to the violent past of the animalistic beings, many of the clans became semi nomadic as the constant battles between clans forced them to move regularly. That was all in the past now, but the cultural and historical sympathy was still their. The Humans on the other hand wanted to help the Race they felt was most like them.

While some might think that the Humans were more like the Salarians, and they were to an extent, the Salarian's use of the Genophage against the Krogen had horrified and sickened many Humans. Besides, they found they had more in common with the never give in attitude of the Quarians.

Rael, who had become something of an unofficial leader in the past month, looked up from the datapad he was reading as Raan ran up, looking panicked.

"Raan, whats wrong?" Asked Rael.

What his friend said made his blood run cold.

"We can't find Tali!"

* * *

Said little girl was currently making her way through the small, wooded area that bordered the river the city the Quarians were using as a base was built on, completely unaware of the panic she had caused. Being a curious little girl, Tali had got bored of looking for someone to play with and wandered off on her own, intending to explore the area a little. The little girl clambered over a fallen log, only to realize her mistake a second later as the ground dropped out beneath her and sent her sliding down a muddy slide to land in a heap in a bush. Tali slowly pushed herself to her feet, trying to keep from crying so as not to fog up her visor, when a small, green orb of light suddenly zipped out of the bushes and hovered in front of her. Tali blinked and stared at the thing before her.

It was a little person, barely an inch with leaf green skin, large, emerald eyes and gossamer wings that were giving of the green light that surrounded it.

"Hi, whats your name?" Chirped the little creature, making Tali jump.

Its voice was high pitched and sounded like bells.

"T-tali," stuttered Tali, "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Juniper, I'm a Dryad," said the glowing humanoid, "You're one of those things that came from the sky right? The ones that woke us up?"

"I-I think so," stuttered Tali, still not sure what to make of the Dryad, "Um, sorry we woke you."

Juniper giggled.

"Oh its not a problem, we'd been asleep for too long anyway," said Juniper.

"We?" Asked Tali, "Their are more of you?"

"Of course!" Chirped the fairy-like being, "Come with me!"

The Dryad grabbed the edge of Talis hood and tugged on it. Tali followed the little creature deeper into the woods. It was darker down here, with the canopy above blocking much of the sunlight from penetrating down to the forest floor. Tali looked around nervously as the trees seemed to shift and rustle, despite the fact their was no wind. She also thought she spotted shadows and glowing eyes watching her from the darkness. Then, just as she was about to break and start running, the forest stopped and she found herself blinded by the sudden light. After blinking the spots from her vision, Tali stared.

The grove was large and perfectly circular, with a huge tree in the center with a clear pond at its roots. All around the clearing, hundreds of different types of animals went about their business alongside more tiny Dryads of all colours. Here and their, huge, wooden creatures stumped around, tending to the animals and plants. As she watched, one of the wooden beings stumped up to Tali and looked down at her through surprisingly expressive brown eyes, before it smiled and knelt down, holding out a hand to her as a small flower grew from it.

"I am Groot," it said as Tali took the flower.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

The tree being smiled and stood, stumping off. Juniper giggled, before tugging on Talis hood again.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the Lady!" She said.

"Who?"

"The one who protects the Grove," said Juniper.

Tali followed the Dryad across the Grove towards the tree. As they reached the pond, Tali noticed that someone was sat in the lotus position under the huge roots of the tree. It was a Quarian woman, but not one that anyone would likely recognize any more, other than an Asari for this Quarian wasn't wearing a suit. She had dusky, purple skin, long, thin pointed ears that almost looked like those of an Elf and long, midnight blue hair that was braided with feathers. She was clad in leaves, branches and vines that wrapped around her while still leaving her stomach, arms and legs clear. Her face and exposed skin was patterned with glowing, blue patterns, most notably two tear like lines on her face and an eye shape on her forehead. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be meditating.

However, the sight of a suitless Quarian isnt what attracted Talis attention but what was sat on either side of her in the same position with their hands clasped and their heads bowed. Two, identical Geth platforms, painted green and covered in vines, as if they had been sat there for centuries.

As Tali approached, the woman looked up and opened her eyes, revealing a pair of silver eyes that glowed like miniature stars.

" **Be welcome Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya,"** she said.

Her voice was smooth and elegant yet seemed to bear a huge amount of weight.

"You know my name?" Asked Tali, eyeing the two Geth warily.

" **Naturally, I know the names of all my Children,"** said the woman, before gesturing at the ground before her, **"Come, sit and do not mind these children. They will not harm you."**

Tali nearly jumped out of her skin as the two Geth looked up, their lights glowing brightly in the shadowy depths of the wooden cave created by the roots of the tree.

"Greetings Creator Zorah, we are the Children," said the two Geth in unison, "We serve the Mother."

With that, the two bowed their heads again and returned to their meditation. The woman sighed fondly.

" **Ah, the beauty of youth,"** she said, **"You don't know what you missed out on by attempting to destroy these amazing creatures. I hope that you can rebuild the bridges broken in the future."**

She shook her head and refocused on Tali.

" **But I am being rude. I know you're name but you do not know mine. I am Rannoch, the Gaia of this planet."**

Tali cocked her head on one side.

"Gaia?" She asked.

Rannoch gave a smile, but before she could answer, she cocked her head on one side as if hearing something and looked towards the far edge of the Grove.

" **Ah, it seems we have company."**

She gestured to one of the tree beings, who shambled over to the clearings edge and made a beckoning motion with its hand. Tali turned and watched as a group slowly entered the Grove and followed the walking tree across the field, staring around in awe. The group was composed of Quarians, Humans and Beastkin and the two UPE races looked shocked and joyful, as if seeing a welcome sight they never thought they'd see. One of the leaders of the group was Rael, who seemed more worried about finding his daughter than admiring the scenery. As the group approached, the UPE races gaped when they saw Rannoch, before falling to their knees and bowing their heads, much to the confusion of the Quarians. Rael, upon seeing Tali, hurried forwards and grabbed the girl in a hug, before checking her over for injuries.

" **Fear not Rael'Zorah vas Alarei, your child is unharmed,"** said Rannoch.

She turned her gaze on the still kneeling Humans and Beastkin.

" **You need not bow to me, Children of Earth,"** she said, **"Save your respect for your own Mother. If anything, I should bow to you. You have bought my Children home."**

The Humans and Beastkin stood, before the leader, a racoon Beastkin with a large number of explosives strapped to his body, stepped forwards.

"Forgive me for asking this, Lady Gaia, but how are you awake? When we were helping the Geth leave, the Elves said that you were slumbering."

" **It is your presence that awakened me,"** said the Gaia, **"The powerful magics you and yours possess stirred me from my slumber. Your mere presence on a world serves to reawaken the ancient flows of Magic and thus, the Spirits that dwell within the Earth. I am but the first of many lights to appear for the first time in many Cycles. For the first time, Magic is stretching out its grasp. The Dragon Lords are beginning to stir, as are the Ancient Spirits that dwell in the Old Places. A Darkness is coming my friends and the Light must be here to greet it."**

 **And I do believe that that will do. I know there wasn't really much conversation shown, but it was pretty much as you'd expect. I also wasn't really expecting Tali and Garrus to meet Rannoch and Keleth, it just sort of happened. My original plan was to have Tali meet a few Nature Spirits, including Groot, and it just kinda snowballed.**

 **So, what do we think the Darkness is? Silly question really, but what does coming into contact with such ancient and powerful beings mean for my two favorite Squad mates? Who knows, but we will find out in the future! Bye!**

Codex: United People of Earth: Spirits and Elementals

Elementals: Dryad

Dryads are the Spirits of trees and plants and appear as tiny, female humanoids with glowing, insect like wings. They are usually happy, friendly creatures who have a love of pranks and making fun of travellers, but are usually benevolent. However, if there home is threatened, they bring the wrath of the Forest down on the perpetrator, tearing them apart with branches and roots. The especially love playing with children.

Treent

Spirits and guardians of the forest, these gentle giants resemble large, walking trees. There are immensely strong and, like Dryads, can command nature to attack those that threaten there homes. Like other Elementals, they love small children and often help them should they get lost in the woods. They are fairly simple creatures, usually only able to speak a few words, but are kind hearted and powerful fighters, should it be required.

Gaia

The Elemental of Elementals, a being on the same level of power as a god, these beings are the literal embodiment of the planet. Rarely seen by mortal eyes, those that do see these mysterious and powerful spirits are often individuals destined for greatness and are sometimes granted incredible powers by the Spirit. They usually appear as beautiful women clad in leaves and vines, with blue markings on there skin.

Dragons: Dragon Lords

If normal Dragons are feared and respected, then these are beyond imagining. Said to be the oldest and strongest of there kind, the Dragon Lords are belaved to be among the first beings to be given life on Earth by Deus and left long before the Races were more than wondering tribes of savages. According to legend, the Dragons battled a powerful Darkness and lost, disappearing from the Galaxy to sleep and recover, ready for the return of the Darkness. Now that things appear to be waking, does that mean that the Dragon Lords return is nigh? Only time will tell.


End file.
